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CORfRIGHT DEPOSFK 




A SOURCE-BOOK OF ANCIENT HISTORY 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY ■ CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



A SOURCE-BOOK OF 

ANCIENT HISTORY 



BY 

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY; AUTHOR OF "THE 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION," " THE ROMAN 

ASSEMBLIES," "A HISTORY OF GREECE," "A HISTORY OF 

ROME," "A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD," ETC. 

AND 
LILLIE SHAW BOTSFORD 

AUTHOR (WITH G. W. BOTSFORD) OF 
"THE STORY OF ROME AS GREEKS AND ROMANS TELL IT" 



8>ui fork 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1912 

All rights reserved 



DS2 

.5? 



Copyright, 1912, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 



PRESS OF T. MOREY & SON 
GREENFIELD, MASS., XT. 8. A. 



©CLA328690 



PREFACE 

This volume may be used in connection with any course 
in Ancient History. It is especially intended, however, 
to serve as an auxiliary to Botsford's "History of the 
Ancient World." The material has accordingly been 
arranged in chapters parallel to those of this text-book, 
to which references are constantly given. 

Some of the selections have been translated by friends — 
especially by Dr. E. G. Sihler of New York University 
and Miss Rachel R. Hiller — and others by ourselves; 
but most of them have been taken from published trans- 
lations, to which credit is duly given. Particularly in the 
case of excerpts from translations by scholars of recog- 
nized merit, we have followed the policy of making the 
least possible revision, even to the extent of allowing some 
inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names. Readers 
will thus be reminded that the spelling of Greek names is 
far from being standardized. 

As to the use of the volume, we advise that the pupils 
read each chapter in connection with their study of the 
corresponding chapter of the text-book. The questions, 
which suggest the more important facts to be gathered 
from the selections, are to be regarded merely as ex- 
amples. The teacher may modify or expand them ac- 
cording to the needs of the class. In the case of the 
more mature pupils, greater attention should be given 
to a study of the authors and to the critical appreciation 
of the selections than these illustrative questions indicate. 
In such work the pupils could advantageously use Mur- 
ray's " History of Ancient Greek Literature;" Mahafly's 



vi Preface 

" History of Classical Greek Literature;" Mackail's 
"Latin Literature;" Duff's "Literary History of Rome;" 
Teuffel and Schwabe's " History of Roman Literature;" 
and the histories of Greece and of Rome by Grote, Cur- 
tius, Holm, Mommsen, Duruy, and others. Historical 
criticism, however, involving the careful weighing of evi- 
dence and the valuation of the reliability of authors and 
documents, is an exceedingly complex and difficult work, 
which must in the main be reserved for students of Uni- 
versity grade. 

It is to be noticed that the questions rarely call for an 
expression of opinion as to the right or wrong, the folly 
or wisdom, of an action. It is true that when an act is 
obviously right or wrong, the character of the pupil may 
be strengthened by his being called upon to pronounce 
judgment; but nothing so conduces to superficial self- 
sufficiency as the practice of declaring off-hand opinions 
on subjects but partially and one-sidedly known. The 
power of discrimination, most essential to a well-developed 
mind, may be better cultivated by exercise in determin- 
ing, for instance, what is relevant and what irrelevant 
to a given subject, what are the facts in the case and 
what is merely opinion, what are the essential elements 
of a given subject, and what are its connections with re- 
lated subjects. In text-books the material is so selected 
and arranged as to train the memory more than any other 
mental faculty. The sources, on the other hand, while 
bringing the reader into close, almost personal touch with 
the individuals and events treated, have the advantage 
of presenting a body of raw material, on which the mind 
may exercise itself, especially in discrimination. The 
selections would be robbed of this value by excessive 
comment and by the elimination of all obscurities, un- 



Preface vii 

familiar names, and other difficulties. It will be a great 
advantage to the pupil to learn by experience that, with- 
out being able to pronounce every proper name or to 
clear up every difficulty in a given passage, he may yet 
extract useful information from it. With no detriment 
to himself or to others, he may learn, too, at an early age 
that neither teacher nor author is omniscient. 

There are already in existence good source-books for 
Greece and Rome, to which references are given in Bots- 
ford's text-books in ancient history. To those who wish 
a greater amount of source material on Rome, woven into 
a connected, readable narrative extending from the found- 
ing of the city to the death of Marcus Aurelius, and 
abounding in interesting sketches of characters and cus- 
toms, we recommend our " Story of Rome as Greeks and 
Romans tell it." The present volume may claim the 
unique merit of rendering Oriental sources available for 
high-school and college courses in ancient history. It 
includes, too, certain classes of sources for Greece and 
Rome not represented in other books of the kind. The 
aim, however, has been not novelty but usefulness. 

EXPLANATIONS 

Greece, Rome, and Ancient World are abbreviated titles 
of Botsford, History of Greece, History of Rome, and His- 
tory 0} the Ancient World, respectively. 

Words supplied by the editors are enclosed in paren- 
theses. 

The design on the cover represents a herm of Herodotus 
now in the Berlin Museum. 

George Willis Botsford 
Lillie Shaw Botsford 
Mount Vernon, New York, 

October 30, 191 2. 



CONTENTS 



BOOK I 

THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction to the Sources i 

II. Egypt 5 

III. The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 27 

IV. Syria: The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 42 

V. The Median and Persian Empires . 55 

BOOK II 

HELLAS 

VI. Introduction to the Sources 67 

VII. The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 77 

VIII. The Epic or Homeric Age 81 

IX. Myth and Religion 88 

X. The City-State and its Development 97 

XL Economy and Colonization 103 

XII. The Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League hi 

XIII. Athens: From Monarchy to Democracy 123 

XIV. The Poets and the Philosophers 141 

XV. The Ionic Revolt 152 

XVI. The War Between Greece and Persia 162 

XVII. The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire 175 

XVIII. The Age of Pericles 180 

XIX. The Peloponnesian War to the Sicilian Expedi- 
tion 211 

XX. From the Sicilian Expedition to the End of the 

War 218 

XXI. Sicily: The Tyrant and the Liberator 241 

ix 



x Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. The Supremacy of Sparta 247 

XXIII. Thebes Attempts to Gain the Supremacy 258 

XXIV. The Rise of Macedon 266 

XXV. Alexander's Empire 276 

XXVI. Greek Life and Thought 283 

XXVII. The Hellenistic Age 297 



BOOK III 

ROME 

XXVIII. A. Introduction to the Sources 313 

B. Italy and Her People 326 

XXIX. Rome Under the Kings 334 

XXX. The Early Republic: (I) The Plebeians Win 

Their Rights 348 

XXXI. The Early Republic: (II) Rome Becomes Su- 
preme in Italy 361 

XXXII. Roman Organization: Progress in Culture. . . 371 

XXXIII. The First and Second Punic Wars 379 

XXXIV. The End of Greek Freedom 389 

XXXV. Growth of Plutocracy; Progress in Civilization 397 

XXXVI. The Revolution: (I) From Plutocracy to Mili- 
tary Rule 417 

XXXVII. The Revolution: (II) The Military Power in 

Conflict with the Republic 433 

XXXVIII. The Founding of the Principate; Augustus and 

Tiberius 464 

XXXIX. From Principate to Monarchy: The Claudian 

and Flavian Princes 480 

XL. The Period of the Five Good Emperors 502 

XLI. Early History of Christianity 521 

XLII. The Absolute Monarchy 527 

XLIII. Some Aspects of the Decline 537 

XLIV. The Northern Barbarians 544 

XLV. Roman Life Under the Late Empire 558 

XLVI. The Mohammedans and the Frankish Power . . 574 
Index 585 



A Source-Book of Ancient History 

BOOK I 

The Oriental Nations 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SOURCES 

At the opening of the last century almost our only Greek 

r • e r • t- ti 1 l SOUrceS. 

sources of information for ancient Egypt, Babylonia, 
and Assyria were the works of the Greeks. For the earlier 
history of the first two countries here named these writers See chapter 

vi 

had to depend largely on folk tales, which though not real 
history throw a clearer light on the customs and thought 
of the Orientals than could any narrative of events how- 
ever detailed. Even at the present day, notwithstanding 
the vast accumulation of other sources, we are attracted 
to Herodotus, "the Father of History," who visited 
Egypt and Babylon about the middle of the fifth cen- 
tury B.C. In simple, charming style, he wrote down what 
he himself saw and what the priests and others told him of 
native history, religion, social customs, and achievements 
in engineering and architecture. Although we can place 
little dependence upon his account of earlier times, his 
own age he portrays with great fidelity. For geography, 
products, and to some extent customs we may still use 
Strabo, the famous Greek geographer who wrote in the 
first century of the Christian era. Scattered through 
Greek and Roman literature are many incidental but 

i 



Introduction to the Sources 



Native 
sources for 
Egypt, Bab- 
ylonia, and 
Assyria. 



valuable references to the Orient, with here and there 
more extended summaries of history and chronology. 

Our knowledge of that part of the world, however, has 
been vastly increased since the beginning of the nineteenth 
century by the decipherment of ancient scripts, first the 
Egyptian and afterward the Babylonian. The great value 
of these native sources lies in the facts (i) that they are 
nearly always contemporary with the persons, events, or 
conditions to which they refer, (2) that they are composed 
by natives and present therefore the native attitude of mind 
and mode of thought, (3) that their abundance and variety 
enable us to examine with great minuteness and accuracy 
all the activities of these nations in war, commerce and 
industry, the useful and fine arts, religion, morals, and 
science — in brief every field of thought and endeavor of 
the poor and lowly as well as of kings and officials. We are 
therefore especially well provided with the means of study- 
ing the Egyptians, Babylonians and Assyrians. 

Of the peoples of Syria we have almost no early writ- 
ten records in addition to the letters found at Tel-el- 
Amarna, Egypt, described below. These letters, written 
in the fifteenth century by various governors of the Syrian 
cities to the Egyptian king, throw an interesting light 
especially on Palestine before its conquest by the Hebrews. 
Almost nothing has reached us from the Phoenicians, 
whereas the Hebrews created a rich literature in the books 
of the Old Testament. 

The Persians were a race of warriors, and the inscrip- 
tions of their kings are, like those of Assyria, mainly a 
record of conquest and building. There remains, however, 
a considerable part of their sacred books comprised in the 
Avesta. The beginnings of these writings belong to Media. 
From that country they were adopted by the Persians, 



Bibliography 3 

who gradually added to them as their religion expanded. 
This entire body of writings, however, purported to be a 
revelation of God to his prophet Zoroaster (native name 
Zarathrustra). Although some modern scholars look 
upon this figure as a myth, it seems more probable that 
he was a historical person who lived in the latter half of 
the seventh century B.C. The religion he taught is Ancient 
called Zoroastrianism after himself, or Mazdeism, after 
his supreme God, Ahura Mazda. It is an interesting 
fact that of all the pagan worships which flourished in 
Egypt and southwestern Asia Mazdeism alone has sur- 
vived to the present day. It is held by a sect called the 
Parsis, who, when the Mohammedans conquered Persia, 642 A.D. 
fled to India, where they are still settled. 



BOOKS FROM WHICH SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE 

The Holy Bible. New York: Hurst and Co. 

Birch, S., editor, Records of the Past: Being English Translations of 
the Assyrian and Egyptian Monuments, i-xii (1875-1881). 
London: Samuel Bagster and Sons. 

Sayce, A. H., editor, Records of the Past: Being English Translations 
of the Ancient Monuments of Egypt and Western Asia. New- 
Series, i-vi (1888-1892). Bagster and Sons. This series is in- 
dicated thus, i, 2 ii, 2 Hi, 3 etc. 

Baum, H. M., and Wright, F. B., editors, Records of the Past. Wash- 
ington, D. C: Exploration Society (a volume annually, beginning 
1902). Referred to as (American) Records of the Past. It is 
devoted mainly to brief studies, but contains an occasional 
translation. 

Breasted, J. H., editor and translator, Ancient Records of Egypt, 
5 vols. Chicago: University Press (1906). 

King, L. W., Studies in Eastern History, 3 vols. London: Luzac and 
Co. (1904-1907). 

King, L. W., The Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, vol. iii. 
Luzac and Co. (1900). 



4 Introduction to the Sources 

Harper, R. F., The Code of Hammurabi King of Babylon. Chicago: 
University Press (1904). Translation and commentary. 

Darmesteter, J., The Zend-Avesta, 2 pts. in F. Max Muller's Sacred 
Books of the East, vols, iv, xxiii. Oxford: Clarendon Press 
(1880, 1883). 

Herodotus, see p. 75. 

Strabo, see p. 76. 



1-4- 



CHAPTER II 

EGYPT 

I. The Nile 

The Nile, when it leaves the boundaries of Ethiopia, The Delta, 
flows in a straight line toward the North, to the tract 
called the Delta, then, cloven at the head, as Plato says, Strabo xvii. 
it makes this point the apex of a triangle, the sides of 
which are formed by streams. . . . An island is thus 
formed by the sea and the two streams of the river, 
called the Delta from its resemblance to the letter of that 
name A. 

At the time of the rising of the Nile the whole valley 
is covered and resembles the sea, except the inhabited 
parts, which are on natural hills or mounds; the larger 
cities and the villages appear like islands on the distant 
prospect. 

After having continued on the ground more than forty 
days in Summer, the water subsides by degrees in the same 
manner as it arose. In sixty days the plain is entirely 
exposed to view and dries up. The sooner the land is dry, 
so much the sooner the plowing and sowing are ac- 
complished, and it dries earlier in those parts where the 
heat is greater. The country above the Delta is irrigated 
in the same manner, except that the river flows in a straight 
channel to the distance of about four thousand stadia 
unless where some island intervenes. 

In later times persons learned by experience as eye- 
witnesses that the Nile owes its rise to summer rains, which 

5 



Farm labor 
is easy. 



Herodotus 
ii. 14. 



6 Egypt 

fall in great abundance in Upper Ethiopia, especially 
in the most distant mountains. When the rains cease, 
the fulness of the river gradually subsides. This was 
particularly observed by those who navigated the Arabian 
Gulf on their way to the Cinnamon country and by those 
who were sent to hunt elephants, or for such other pur- 
poses as induced the Ptolemies to send persons in that 
direction. 

II. Fertility 

They (the Egyptians) gather the fruit of the earth with 
far less labor than any other people. . . . For they do not 
toil in breaking furrows with the plow nor in hoeing it, 
nor in doing any other work in which men are employed 
in raising a crop; but when the river of its own accord 
comes up over the field and waters it and then withdraws 
to its bed, each farmer sows his field with seed and turns 
the swine into it; and when the swine have trodden the 
seed down, he awaits the harvest. Then he threshes by 
means of the swine and gathers in his crop. 



The greatest 
pyramid. 



Herodotus 
ii. 124. 



The remains 
of two cause- 
ways are 
extant. 



III. The Pyramids 

After Cheops had ascended the throne, he brought the 
country into every manner of evil. First closing all the 
temples, he forbade sacrificing there, then ordered all the 
Egyptians to work for him. Some he bade draw stones 
from the quarries in the Arabian mountains about the 
Nile; others were ordered to receive them after they had 
been carried over the river in boats, and to draw them to 
the Libyan mountains. And they worked in groups of 
100,000 men, each group for three months continually. 
Ten years of oppression for the people were required for 
making the causeway by which they dragged the stones. 



The Greatest Pyramid 7 

This causeway which they built was not a much inferior 
work to the pyramid itself, as it seems to me; for the 
length is five stades and the breadth ten fathoms; its high- A stade 

. , r , . . ,. , (stadium) 

est point is eight fathoms; it is made of polished stones and was 600 feet. 

engraved with the figures of living beings. Ten years were 

required for this, and for the works on the mound, where 

the pyramids stand, and for the underground chambers 

in the island, which he intended as sepulchral vaults for No trace of 

lllr , ii.-iiir tne canal can 

his own use, and lastly for the canal which he dug from the now be found. 
Nile. The pyramid was building 20 years; it is square; 
each side measures 800 feet and its height is the same; 
the stones are polished and fitted together with the utmost 
exactness. Not one of them is less than 30 feet in length. 

The pyramid was built in steps, battlement-wise, or Lifting ma- 
as some say, altar-wise. After laying the base, they lifted 
the remaining stones to their places by means of machines, lb. 125. 
made of short pieces of wood. The first machine raised 
them from the ground to the top of the first step; and when 
the stone had been lifted thus far, it was drawn to the top 
of the second step by another machine; for they had as 
many machines as steps, or they lifted the same machine, 
which was made so as to be easily carried, from one step 
to the other for the purpose of elevating the stones; for I 
give both methods as they were told me. At any rate, 
the highest parts were finished first, then the next, and so 
on till they came to the parts resting on the ground, 
namely the base. It is set down in Egyptian writing on the 
pyramid how much was spent on radishes and leeks and 
onions for the workmen; and I remember well the in- 
terpreter read the sum of 1600 talents of silver. Now if 
these figures are correct, how much more must have been 
spent on the iron which with they worked, and on the food 
and clothing of the workmen, considering the length of 



8 



Egypt 



time which the work lasted, and an additional period, 
as I understand, during which they cut and brought the 
stones, and made the excavations. 



The con- 
tracting 
parties. 



Ancient 
World, 12. 



Renewal of 
old relations. 



IV. Treaty between Rameses II and the Hittites 

A treaty of peace was signed between Rameses II and the Hittite 
King, 1272, the earliest treaty now extant. The following is the more 
important part of it. Breasted, Records oj Ancient Egypt, iii. pp. 165- 
174- 

The treaty which the great chief of the Hittites, Khet- 
asar, the valiant, the son of Merasar, the great chief of 
the Hittites, the valiant, the grandson of Seplel, the great 
chief of the Hittites, the valiant, made upon a silver tab- 
let for Rameses II, the great ruler of Egypt, the valiant; 
. . . the good treaty of peace and of brotherhood, setting 
peace between them forever. . . . 

Behold, then, Khetasar, the great chief of the Hittites, 
is in a treaty relation with Rameses II, the great ruler of 
Egypt, beginning with this day, in order to bring about 
good peace and good brotherhood between us forever, 
while he is in brotherhood with me; and I am in brother- 
hood with him, and I am in peace with him forever. 
Since Metella, the great chief of the Hittites, my brother, 
succumbed to his fate, and Khetasar sat as great chief 
of the Hittites upon the throne of his father, behold, I am 
together with Rameses-Meriamon, the great ruler of 
Egypt, and he is with me in our peace and our brother- 
hood. It is better than the former peace and brotherhood 
which were in the land. Behold, I, even the great chief 
of the Hittites, am with Rameses, the great ruler of 
Egypt, in good peace and in good brotherhood. The 
children of the children of the great chief of the Hittites 
shall be in brotherhood and peace with the children of the 



The Earliest Extant Treaty 9 

children of Rameses-Meriamon, the great ruler of Egypt, 

being in our relations of brotherhood and our relations 

of peace, that the land of Egypt may be with the land of 

the Hittites in peace and brotherhood, like ourselves, 

forever. 

There shall be no hostilities between them forever. Neither 

party shall 
The great chief of the Hittites shall not pass over into the attack the 

land of Egypt, forever, to take anything therefrom. Ram- 
eses-Meriamon, the great ruler of Egypt, shall not pass 
over into the land of the Hittites to take anything there- 
from, forever. . . . 

If another enemy come against the lands of Rameses, Defensive 
the great ruler of Egypt, and he shall send to the great 
chief of the Hittites, saying, "Come with me as reinforce- 
ment against him," the great chief of the Hittites shall 
come, and the great chief of the Hittites shall slay his 
enemy. But if it shall not be the desire of the great chief 
of the Hittites to come, he shall send his infantry and his 
chariotry, and shall slay his enemy. 

Or if Rameses-Meriamon, the great ruler of Egypt, be 
provoked against delinquent subjects, when they have 
committed some other fault against him, and he come to 
slay them, then the great chief of the Hittites shall act 
with the lord of Egypt. 

If another enemy come against the great chief of the 
Hittites and he shall send to the great chief of Egypt, 
Rameses for reinforcements, then he shall come to him 
as reinforcement, to slay his enemy. But if it be not the 
desire of Rameses-Meriamon, the great ruler of Egypt 
to come, he shall send his infantry and his chariotry and 
shall slay his enemy. . . . 

If any great man of the land of Egypt shall flee and 
shall come to the great chief of the Hittites, from either a 



IO 



Egypt 



Extradition 
clause. 

The docu- 
ment con- # 
tains a simi- 
lar clause in 
favor of the 
Hittites. 

The gods are 
witnesses. 



town or. . . of the lands of Rameses-Meriamon, the great 
ruler of Egypt, and they shall come to the great chief of 
the Hittites, then the great chief of the Hittites shall not 
receive them, but the great chief of the Hittites shall cause 
them to be brought to Rameses, the great ruler of Egypt, 
their lord therefor. . . . 

As for the words of this contract of the great chief 
of the Hittites with Rameses-Meriamon, the great ruler 
of Egypt, written upon this silver tablet; as for these 
words, a thousand gods of the male gods and of the female 
gods, of those of the land of the Hittites, together with a 
thousand gods, of the male and of the female gods of those 
of the land of Egypt, they are with me as witnesses to 
these words. 



Ptah ad- 
dresses 
Rameses II. 

Ptah (artist- 
god), chief 
deity of Mem- 
phis; Num 
(Khnum) 
creator and 
protector; 
Hathor, god- 
dess of love 
and pleasure, 
often in form 
of a cow. 



V. Rameses II, Son and Second Self of the God Ptah- 
Totunen 

This extract from a much longer inscription found at Abu-Simbel, 
Egypt, gives, perhaps better than any other passage, an idea of the 
divine perfection, majesty, and almighty power of the Egyptian king 
as the son and incarnation of the chief deity. Interesting is the in- 
cidental reference to the successful close of the war with the Hittites 
and to the king's marriage with the Hittite princess. Records of the 
Past, xii. 85-89. 

Thus speaks Ptah-Totunen with the high plumes, 
armed with horns, the father of the gods, to his son who 
loves him. . . . 

Num and Ptah have nourished thy childhood, they leap 
with joy when they see thee made after my likeness, noble, 
great, exalted. The great princesses of the house of Ptah 
and the Hathors of the temple of Tern are in festival, 
their hearts are full of gladness, their hands take the drum 
with joy, when they see thy person beautiful and lovely 



Rameses II n 

like my Majesty. .- . . King Rameses, I grant thee to 
cut the mountains into statues immense, gigantic, ever- 
lasting; I grant that foreign lands find for thee precious 
stone to inscribe the monuments with thy name. 

I give thee to succeed in all the works which thou hast Success in 

all under- 
done. I give thee all kinds of workmen, all that goes on takings. 

two or four feet, all that flies and all that has wings. I 

have put in the heart of all nations to offer thee what they 

have done; themselves, princes great and small, with one 

heart seek to please thee, King Rameses. Thou hast built 

a great residence to fortify the boundary of the land, 

the city of Rameses; it is established on the earth like the 

four pillars of the sky; hast constructed within a royal 

palace, where festivals are celebrated to thee as is done 

for me within. I have set the crown on thy head with my . 

own hands, when thou appearest in the great hall of the 

double throne; and men and gods have praised thy name 

like mine when my festival is celebrated. 

Thou hast carved my statues and built my shrines as Rameses 

the lncarna- 

I have done in times of old. I have given thee years by tion of Ptah. 

periods of thirty; thou reignest in my place on my throne; 

I fill thy limbs with life and happiness, I am behind thee to 

protect thee; I give thee health and strength; I cause 

Egypt to be submitted to thee, and I supply the two 

countries with pure life. King Rameses, I grant that the 

strength, the vigor, and the might of thy sword be felt 

among all countries; thou castest down the hearts of all 

nations; I have put them under thy feet; thou comest 

forth every day in order that be brought to thee the foreign 

prisoners; the chiefs and the great of all nations offer thee 

their children. I give them to thy gallant sword that thou 

mayest do with them what thou likest. King Rameses, 

I grant that the fear of thee be in the minds of all and thy 



12 Egypt 

command in their hearts. I grant that thy valor reach all 
countries, and that the dread of thee be spread over all 
lands; the princes tremble at thy remembrance, and thy 
majesty is fixed on their heads; they come to thee as sup- 
plicants to implore thy mercy. Thou givest life to whom 
thou wishest, and thou puttest to death whom thou pleas- 
est; the throne of all nations is in thy possession. . . . 

Power of the King Rameses, I have exalted thee through such marvel- 
king's name. . 

ous endowments that heaven and earth leap for joy and 

those who are within praise thy existence; the mountains, 
the water, and the stone walls which are on the earth 
are shaken when they hear thy excellent name, since they 
have seen what I have accomplished for thee; which is 
that the land of the Hittites should be subjected to thy 
palace; I have put in the heart of the inhabitants to an- 
ticipate thee themselves by their obeisance in bringing 
thee their presents. Their chiefs are prisoners, all their 
property is the tribute in the dependency of the living king, 
the ffittite Their royal daughter is at the head of them; she comes to 
princess. soften the heart of King Rameses; her merits are marvel- 

ous, but she does not know the goodness which is in thy 
heart. 

VI. Hymn to Amon (Ammon) 

When Thebes 

became the Records of the Past, vi. 09 f . 

residence of 

Amon°(Am- * cr y' ^ e beginning of wisdom is the way of Amon, the rudder of 
mon, or truth. 

A od e of the 1 ^ Th ° U art he that & iveth bread to him who has none ' 

city, became That sustaineth the servant of his house. 

the supreme Let no prince be my defender in all my troubles. 

and a stupen-' Let not my memorial be placed under the power 

dous temple Of any man who is in the house . . . My Lord is my defender; 

him- Ancient * know his power, to wit, he is a strong defender; 

World, 16. There is none mighty except him alone. 



The Nile a Deity 

Strong is Amon, knowing how to answer, 
Fulfilling the desire of him who cries to him; 
The Sun the true King of Gods, 
The Strong Bull, the mighty lover of power. 



13 



VII. Hymn to the Nile 

By the scribe Ennana. It represents the idea that "the Nile is the 
source of all life in Egypt, that it is the supreme god, mysterious, un- 
created, the father of the gods and all things else, into whose secrets 
none can penetrate. He describes in a lofty style the benefits con- 
ferred by the Nile when it spreads its waters over the country at its 
annual return." Records of the Past, ill- a 48-54- 

Adoration to the Nile! 

Hail to thee, O Nile! 

Who manifestest thyself over this land, 

And comest to give life to Egypt! 

Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, 

On this day whereon it is celebrated! 

Watering the orchards created by Re 

To cause all the cattle to live, 

Thou givest the earth to drink, inexhaustible one! 

Path that descendest from the sky, 

Loving the bread of Seb and the first fruits of Nepera, 

Thou causest the workshops of Ptah to prosper! . . . 

He brings the offerings, as chief of provisioning; 

He is creator of all good things, 

As master of energy, full of sweetness in his choice. 

If offerings are made it is thanks to him. 

He brings forth the herbage for the flocks, 

And sees that each god receives his sacrifices. 

All that depends on him is a precious incense. 

He spreads himself over Egypt, 

Filling the granaries, renewing the marts, 

Watching over the goods of the unhappy. 

He is prosperous to the height of all desires, 
Without fatiguing himself therefor. 
He brings again his lordly bark; 



Giver of 
Life. 



Its sources 
were un- 
known. 

Re, the sun- 
god. 



Seb, god of 
earth; Ptah, 
chief god of 
Memphis. 

Creator of 
all good. 



Incessantly 
active. 



Uraeus, 
snake-symbol 
of divinity or 
royalty, worn 
on headdress. 



H 



Egypt 



-He is not sculptured in stone, in the statues crowned with the uraeus 

serpent, 
He cannot be contemplated. 
No servitors has he, no bearers of offerings! 
He is not enticed by incantations! 
None knows the place where he dwells, 
None discovers his retreat by the power of a written spell . . . 



Nourisher of 
mankind. 



Establisher of justice! mankind desires thee, 

Supplicating thee to answer their prayers; thou answerest them by 

the inundation! 
Men offer the first fruits of corn; 
All the gods adore thee! 
The birds descend not on the soil. 
It is believed that with thy hand of gold 
Thou makest bricks of silver! 
But we are not nourished on lapis lazuli; 
Corn alone gives vigor. . . . 



Offerings to 
thee. 



Tuau, the 
other world. 



O inundation of the Nile, 

Offerings are made to thee, 

Oxen are immolated to thee, 

Great festivals are instituted for thee. 

Birds are sacrificed to thee, 

Gazelles are taken for thee in the mountain. 

Pure flames are prepared for thee. 

Sacrifice is made to every god as it is made to the Nile. 

The Nile has made its retreats in Southern Egypt, 

Its name is not known beyond the Tuau. 

The god manifests not his forms, 

He baffles all conception. 



Prosper, O 
giver of 
prosperity ! 

His son is 
pharaoh. 



Men exalt him like the cycle of the gods, 

They dread him who creates the heat, 

Even him who has made his son the universal master 

In order to give prosperity to Egypt. 

Come and prosper! come and prosper! 

O Nile, come and prosper! 

O thou who makest men to live through his flocks, 

And his flocks through his orchards! 



Tombs; Precepts 15 



Come and prosper, come, 
O Nile, come and prosper! 

This work has been successfully finished and dedicated to the 
scribe of the treasury Qaqabu (by the scribe Ennana). 

VIII. Spoliation of Tombs 

This extract is a single clause in an extensive report made by a 
commission for examining into the condition of cemeteries appointed 
by Rameses IX (about uoo). From this and other sources we learn 
that tomb robbery was an oft-committed crime. Records of the Past, 
xii. 107. 

Sepulchres and chapels in which repose the chanters 
and mourners, the women and men of the country, in the 
west-quarter of the city. It was found that the thieves 
had violated them all, that they had torn their occupants 
away from their coffins and cases, had thrown them into 
the dust and had stolen all the funeral objects which had 
been given to them, as well as the gold and silver and the 
ornaments which were in their coffins. 

IX. Egyptian Precepts 

The following precepts are taken from the "oldest book in the 
world," written on papyrus. It was discovered in the necropolis of 
Thebes and first published in 1847. It is now in the National Library 
in Paris. 

The first part, in which we find some precepts concerning manners The third and 

and morals, was composed in the reign of Senoferu (third dynasty). ^ ltl ,^ yn ? s r. 
_ . , - , , _ . - . \ . ties he within 

The last part was composed by the prefect Ptah-hotep in the reign 2900-2540. 

of Assa (fifth dynasty). (American) Records of the Past, i. 311-320. 

If thou sittest down to eat with a number, despise the ° n eating in 

company. 
dishes which thou lovest; it is but a short time to restrain 

thyself; and voracity is something degrading, for there is 

bestiality in it. As a glass of water quenches thirst, as a 



i6 



Egypt 



Moral 

proverbs and 
precepts; 
Ancient 
World, 19. 



Conduct to- 
ward chil- 
dren. 



Treatment 
of the quar- 
relsome. 



mouthful of vegetables strengthens the heart, as one good 
takes the place of another good, as a very little takes the 
place of much, he who is drawn away by his stomach when 
he is not on the watch is a worthless man. With such 
people the stomach is master. However, if thou sittest 
down to eat with a glutton, to keep up with him in eating 
will lead afar; and if thou drinkest with a great drinker, 
accept to please him. Do not reject the meats, even from 
a man repugnant to thee; take what he gives thee, and do 
not leave it; truly that is disagreeable. 

Do not harden the hearts of thy children. Instruct 
those who will be in thy place; but when he does not per- 
mit, none knows the events which God brings to pass. Let 
the chief talk to his children, after he has accomplished 
the human condition; they will gain honor for themselves 
by increasing in well doing, starting from that which he 
has told them. 

He says to his son: Be not proud because of thy knowl- 
edge; converse with the ignorant as with the scholar; for 
the barriers of art are never closed, no artist ever 
possessing that perfection to which he should aspire. 
But wisdom is more difficult to find than the emerald; 
which is found by slaves among the rocks of pegma- 
tite. 

If thou hast to do with a disputer while he is in his heat, 
and if he is superior to thee in ability, lower the hands, 
bend the back, do not get into a passion with him. As 
he will not permit thee to spoil his speech, it is very wrong 
to interrupt him; that shows thou art not able to keep 
quiet when thou art contradicted. If then thou hast to do 
with a disputer while he is in his heat, act as one not to be 
moved. Thou hast the advantage over him, if only in 
keeping silent when his speech is bad. "Better is he who 



Precepts 17 

refrains," says the audience; and thou art right in the 
opinion of the great. . . . 

If thou art in the position of leader, to decide the con- Treatment 
dition of a large number of men, seek the best way, that under your 
thine own position may be without reproach. Justice is au onty " 
great, unchangeable and assured; it has not been dis- 
turbed since the time of Osiris. To put an obstacle in the 0siris > once a 

ruler on earth, 

way of the laws, is to open the way before violence. Will now the god 
the low be exalted if the unjust does not succeed to the the°deao? es 
place of justice, he who says: "I take for myself, ac- 
cording to my will," but does not say, "I take by my 
authority." The limits of justice are unchangeable; this 
is a precept which each man receives from his father. 

Do not intimidate men; or God will likewise contend 
with thee. . . . 

If thou art among persons who are sitting down to eat Con duct to- 
at the house of one greater than thyself, take what he gives riors. 
thee, bowing low. Look at what is before thee, bowing pro- 
foundly. Look at what is before thee; but do not stare at 
it: do not look at it frequently; he is blameworthy who 
breaks this rule. Do not speak to him (the great man) 
more than he asks, for one does not know what might dis- 
please him. Speak when he invites thee to do so, and thy 
word will please. . . . 

If thou art one of those who carry messages from one Conduct as a 

J ° • . 1 messenger, 

great man to another, keep exactly to that he has enjoined 

upon thee. Beware of altering in speaking the repulsive 

things which one great man addresses to another. He who 

distorts the fidelity of his message by repeating only what 

is pleasing in the words of any man, great or small, is a 

detestable being. . . . 

Be active during the time of thy existence, in doing Beware of 

more than is commanded. Do no wrong in the time of 



18 Egypt 

activity; he is blameworthy who wastes his hour. Do not 

lose the daily opportunity for the increase of that which 

thy house possesses. Activity produces riches, and riches 

do not last when it (activity) slackens. . . . 

Have cour- Declare thy line of conduct without reserve; give thine 

age to give ... 

sound ad- advice in the council of thy lord ; there are people who take 

all sides when they speak, so that, by not replying, they 

may not grieve the one who has made a statement. . . . 

Govern your if thou desirest that thy conduct be good and kept from 
temper. ° 

all evil, beware of all fits of bad temper. This is a sad 

malady which leads to discord, and there is no more life 

at all for the one who falls into it. For it brings quarrels 

between fathers and mothers, as between brothers and 

sisters; it makes the wife and the husband abhor each other, 

it contains all wickedness, it encloses all injuries. When a 

man takes justice for his rule, walks in her ways, and dwells 

with her, there is no room left for bad temper. . . . 

Conduct to- if thou art wise, take care of thy house; love thy wife 
ward a wife. J J 

purely. Fill her stomach; clothe her back; these are the 

cares to give to her body. Caress her, fulfill her desire 

during the time of thine existence; it is a kindness which 

honors its master. Be not brutal; consideration will lead 

her better than force; . . . this is her breath, her aim, her 

gaze. This establishes her in thy house; if thou repellest 

her, it is an abyss. Open thine arms to her for her arms ; 

call her, show her thy love. . . . 

Conduct of If thou art powerful, pay respect to knowledge and 

one in com- 

mand. calm speech. Command only to direct; to be absolute is to 

enter into evil. Let not thy heart exalt itself, let it not be 
cast down. Make thine orders heard, and make thy re- 
plies understood; but speak without heat; let thy face be 
stern. As for the vivacity of a warm heart, temper it; the 
gentle man overcomes obstacles. The man who hurries 



Precepts 19 

all day long has not one good moment; but he who amuses 

himself all day long does not retain his house. Aim at the 

right point as do the pilots; while one sits down, another 

works, and applies himself to obeying the command. 

Do not disturb a great man; do not distract the at- Attitude to- 
... T-r. • ,- 1 , • ward the 

tention of the busy man. His care is to accomplish his great or 

task, and he strips his body for love of the work. Love for usy man * 
the work they do brings men near to God. Therefore com- 
pose thy face, even in the midst of trouble, so that peace 
may be with thee. . . . These are the people who suc- 
ceed where they apply themselves. . . . 

If thou art great after having been low, if thou art rich The d , ut y of 

one who has 
after having been straitened, when thou art at the head of risen to 

the city, learn not to take advantage of thy having risen to power " 

the first rank ; do not harden thy heart on account of thine 

elevation ; thou hast only become the steward of the goods 

belonging to God. Do not put behind thee the neighbor 

who is thine equal; be to him as a companion. . . . 

Let thy face be bright during all the time of thy life. T ^ c dut ? of 
When one of those who entered carrying his products ness. 
comes out of the place of toll with a drawn face, that shows 
that his stomach is empty, and that the authorities are an 
abhorrence to him. May that never happen to thee. . . . 

Distinguish the overseer, who directs, from the laborer; 
for manual labor is degrading, and inaction is honora- 
ble. . . . 

When a son receives the word of his father, there is no A son s J ould 

1 be teacha- 

error in all his plans. So instruct thy son that he shall be ble. 
a teachable man whose wisdom shall be pleasant to the 
great. Let him direct his mouth according to that which 
has been told him; in the teachableness of a son is seen 
his wisdom. His conduct is perfect, while error carries 
away him who will not be taught; to-morrow knowl- 



20 



Egypt 



The un- 

teachable 



Obey a fa- 
ther or mas- 
ter. 



Value of 
these pre- 
cepts. 



edge shall uphold him, while the ignorant shall be 
crushed. 

As for the man without experience, who hearkens not, 
he does nothing at all. He seeks knowledge in ignorance, 
profit in injury; he commits all sorts of errors, seizing always 
whatever is the opposite of praiseworthy. Thus he lives 
only on the perishable. His food is the evil word that 
charms him. He lives every day on what the great know 
to be perishable; fleeing what is best for him, because of 
the many errors which are before him each day. . . . 

Do that which thy master tells thee. Doubly good is 
the precept of our father, from whose flesh we come forth. 
May what he tells us be in our hearts; do for him more 
than he has said and satisfy him wholly. Surely a good 
son is one of the gifts of God, a son doing better than he 
has been told. For his master he does what is right, 
throwing his whole heart into the ways. 

By following these lessons I secure that thy body shall 
be in health, that the king shall be satisfied with thee in all 
things, and that thou shalt gain years of life without failures. 

They have gained for me upon earth one hundred and 
ten years of life, with the gift of the favor of the king, 
among the first of those whose works have made them 
noble, doing the pleasure of the king in an honored place. 



X. Epitaph of Beka 

This inscription is on a pillar in the Museum of Turin. Beka, the 
deceased, was the great steward of the Public Granary. Its value 
lies chiefly in the enumeration of virtues attributed to the deceased, 
representing him as a perfect model of conduct in private and official 
life. Records of the Past, x. 7-10. 

A royal gift of offerings to the person of the Stew- 
ard of the public granary, Beka, the justified. He says, I 



An Epitaph 21 

myself was just and true, without malice, having put God His justifi- 

. 1 • , • , ,. , . •„ cation be- 

in my heart, and having been quick to discern his will, fore the 
I reach the city of those who are in eternity. I have done the g Dead. 
good upon earth; I have harbored no prejudice; I have not 
been wicked; I have not approved of any offense or in- 
iquity. I have taken pleasure in speaking the truth; I 
have perceived the advantage it is to conform to this 
practice upon the earth from the first action of my life 
even to the tomb. My sure defence shall be to speak 
it (truth) in the day when I reach the divine judges, the 
skilful interpreters, discoverers of all actions, the chastisers 
of sins. Pure is my soul. While living, I bear no malice. 
There are no errors attributable to me, no sins of mine 
are before their hand. I am come out of this trial with the 
help of truth, and behold I am in the place of the ancients. 
Bring ye the food of truth to the Steward of the public 
granary, Beka, the justified. 

He says, It was I who filled the heart of the Lord of the His relations 
Two Regions, who was the beloved of the King of Upper and the 
Egypt, the favorite of the King of Lower Egypt, on ac- court * 
count of my preeminent merits, which were the cause 
of my promotion. Great was I in the place of millions 
of true perfections. Wherever the King proceeded, I al- 
ways approached his person, and went joyfully around 
him adoring his goodness each day, and did homage to Double asp, 
the double asp on his diadem throughout all time. . . . the king's im- 
I have not made myself master over the lowly; I have done mortality, 
no harm to men who honored their gods. I have spent 
my lifetime in the life of truth, until I have attained the 
age of veneration, being in favor with the King, and be- 
loved by the great ones about him. The royal dwelling, 
those who dwelt there, no ill will towards me was in their 
heart. The men of the future, while they live, will be 



22 Egypt 

charmed by my remarkable merits. He who inhabits 
the place of the fulness of health had given me an import- 
ant post. 
Con d UC h- t0 " ^y smcer ^y anc * m y goodness were in the heart of my 
parents and father and mother; my affection was in them. Never have 
I outraged it in my mode of action towards them from the 
beginning of the time of my youth. Though great, yet 
have I acted as if I had been a little one. I have not dis- 
abled anyone worthier than myself. . . . 

XI. Products of Arabia 

A group of inscriptions on the inner walls of an Egyptian temple 
gives an account of the conquest of Arabia Felix by the Regent 
Queen Mother of Thothmes III. It includes a description of the 
spoils brought home by the expedition. Naturally these same prod- 
ucts were imported from Arabia in time of peace. Records of the Past, 
x. 14. 

imports into The loading of the ships of transport with a great quant- 
ent v/orid, 15. ity of the magnificent products of Arabia, with all kinds 
of precious woods of the Holy Land, with heaps of incense 
resin, with verdant incense trees, with ebony, with pure 
ivory, with gold and silver from the land of Amu, with the 
tesep-wood, and the cassia-bark, aham-incense and mes- 
temkohl, and hounds, with skins of leopards of the South, 
apes and monkeys, with women and children. Never 
has a convoy been made like this one by any king since 
the creation of the world. 

XII. The Laboring Classes 

From a papyrus in the British Museum, copied in the nineteenth 
dynasty from an original of the twelfth dynasty or earlier. The 
document gives an account of the various occupations, and with 
quaint humor pictures their hardships as contrasted with the easy 
life of the scribe. Records of the Past, viii. 147-156. 



Miseries of Labor 23 

I have not seen a blacksmith on a commission, a founder The hard lot 

of rnechan- 
who goes on an embassy. I have seen the blacksmith ics. 

at his work at the mouth of his furnace, his fingers like 

the skin of a crocodile: he smells worse than the roe of a i™*?? 1 , 

„ , -^ . , . , World, 14 f. 

fish. Every carpenter carrying tools — is he more at rest 

than the common laborers? His fields are of wood, his Cutting 

wood. 

tools of metal; at night when he is free, he works his hands 
further in making at night the lighting of his house. The 
stone-cutter, he searches for employment in all kinds of 
hard stones. When he has completed his task, his arms 
are fatigued; when he is at rest, his knees and his back are 
broken. The barber is shaving till evening; when he places 
himself to eat, he reclines on his elbows. He betakes him- 
self from street to street to seek after his shaving; he 
wearies his hands to feed his stomach, as bees feed by their 
labors. The boatman, he navigates to At'hu that he may 
have his price. He has done beyond the power of his hands 
in doing, to kill geese and flamingoes; he has suffered his 
suffering; he approaches his orchard; he approaches his 
house at night, for he must go again to his labors on the 
morrow. 

The little laborer with a field, he passes his life among The field- 
rustics. He is worn down for vines and pigs, to furnish builder' 
his kitchen with what his fields have. His clothes are fJd farmer. 
heavy with weight; he is tied as a forced laborer; he goes 
into the air and he suffers though coming forth well from 
his fireplace. He is bastinadoed with a stick on his legs, 
but escapes with his life. Shut against him is the wall of 
every house — drawn are the chambers. I tell you also 
of the builder of precincts. Disease tastes him, for he is 
in draughts of air. ... To go on to his end, his hands are 
worn with labor. Disordered are his clothes. He eats 
himself, the bread his fingers; he washes himself at one 



24 



Egypt 



The weaver, 
armorer, 
courier, and 
other work- 
men. 



time only. He lowers himself to examine all directions. 
His passage is from place to place, which is from ten to six 
cubits; his passage is from month to month upon the 
beams of the lotuses of the houses, while he does all its 
work. Should there be bread for him, he gives it his 
house. Exhausted are his children. The gardener brings 
me wreaths (?); all his yokes are heavy; his hands are 
chiefly on his neck. When he has done the fertilizing, he 
passes the morning watering vegetables, the evening vines. 
He has worked day by day; his stomach is wretched. 
Ignorant of his mother is his name — more tranquil than 
any employment. The farmer, his garments are for eter- 
nity. He elevates his voice like a bird. His fingers aid me, 
for his arms are dry in the wind. He reposes at the middle 
of the marshes, for he is a forced laborer. He is in good 
health with the beasts. Illnesses taste him; he resides 
among them. He arrives at his garden; he comes to his 
house in the evening; he must go out next morning. 

The weaver inside the houses is more wretched than a 
woman; his knees are at the place of his heart; he has not 
tasted the air. Should he have done little in a day of his 
weaving, he is dragged as a lily in a pool. He gives bread 
to the porter that he may be allowed to behold the light. 
The maker of weapons suffers extremely, going forth to 
foreign countries. He gives a great deal for his asses, 
more than the labors of his hands; he gives a great deal 
for their pasturing in a field. He gives on the road; he 
arrives at his garden; he reaches his house at night; he 
must be off in the morning. The courier, going to foreign 
countries, bequeaths his goods to his children, because 
of the fears of beasts and Asiatics. What happens to him 
when he is at Kam ; he arrives at his garden ; he goes to his 
house in the evening; he must be off on the morrow. His 



Miseries of Labor 25 

heavy bond comes forth; no joys come. The dyer, his 
fingers smell — the smell of bad fish. His two eyes are 
weary with very fatigue; his hand does not stop; he watches 
at the rent of the old garment — abominable are the clothes. 
The sandal-maker is very miserable, he is always begging; 
his health is as the health of a bad fish; he gnaws the 
leather. The washerman, washing on the quay, traverses 
the ground approaching the crocodiles. The father of 
the water brings out the dirt: his hand does not stop. A 
quiet employment is not before you, no easier than other 
employment. His draughts are mixed up with his clothes : 
not a limb of him is clean. There is given to him the bonds 
of women, for he is in misfortunes. I lament to thee that 
he passes his time with a bat. . . . The fowler of birds 
suffers very much. The confines of Num are before thee, 
when he says, "Let the net refuse." The god will not 
show his forms; vain are his plans. I tell you the fisher- 
man suffers more than any employment. Consider: is he 
not toiling on the river? he is mixed up with the crocodiles. 
Should the clumps of papyrus diminish, then he is crying 
out for help. If he has not been told a crocodile is there, 
terrors blind him. 

STUDIES 

1. Who was Strabo, and what did he write?. Who was Plato 
(ch. vi)? How did they get their information as to Egypt? Describe 
the overflow of the Nile and explain its cause. 

2. Who was Herodotus (ch. vi)? What made the Nile so fertile? 

3. Describe the building of the greatest pyramid. How was 
Cheops able to build so grandly? What did the people probably 
think of such undertakings? 

4. Write in the simplest form the terms of treaty between Ram- 
eses II and the Hittites. Who were the Hittites? What is meant by 
extradition? 



26 Egypt 



5. Why did the King of Egypt think himself a god? What benefits 
did he derive from Ptah? On what did he especially pride himself? 

6. Who was Amon? What qualities and powers are ascribed to him 
in this poem? 

7. Why did the Egyptians worship the Nile? In this Hymn what 
benefits do they say come from it? 

8. What valuables did robbers find in tombs? 

9. Write a list of the precepts in this extract from " the oldest book 
in the world." How do these ideas of right and propriety compare 
with ours? 

10. Of what virtues does Beka boast in his epitaph? Is it likely 
that he lived up to this standard? 

1 1 . From this list of the spoils of Arabia what do we infer as to the 
Egyptian motive to conquest? 

12. Make a list of the laboring classes found in this selection com- 
posed by a scribe. What was the scribe's attitude toward manual 
labor? 



CHAPTER III 

THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES VALLEY 
I. Chronicle of the Reign of Sargon 

The tablet translated below is in the British Museum. Although 
this chronicle was composed in the second Babylonian period (after 
606 B.C.), it is known to be a faithful epitome of a far earlier narra- 
tive. King, Chronicles, ii. 3-9. 

Sargon, King of Agade, through the royal gift of Ishtar His reign, 

was exalted, and he possessed no foe nor rival. His glory b.c 25 °° 
over the world he poured out. The Sea in the East he 

crossed, and in the eleventh year the Country of the West Ancient 
in its full extent his hand subdued. He united them under 

one control; he set up his images in the West; their booty The Sea in 

he brought over at his word. The sons of his palace for Persian Gulf 6 

five kasbu around he settled, and over the hosts of the Kasbu - ? bout 

' seven miles. 

world he reigned supreme. Against Kasalla he marched, 
and he turned Kasalla into mounds and heaps of ruins; he A Babylonian 
destroyed the land and left not enough for a bird to rest 
thereon. Afterward in his old age all the lands revolted 
against him, and they beseiged him in Agade; and Sargon 
went forth to battle and defeated them; he accomplished 
their overthrow, and their widespreading host he destroyed. 
Afterward he attacked the land of Subartu in his might, 
and they submitted to his arms, and Sargon settled that 
revolt, and defeated them; he accomplished their over- 
throw, and their widespreading host he destroyed, and 
he brought their possessions into Agade. The soil from 
the trenches of Babylon he removed, and the boundaries 

27 



citv 



28 



The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 



Probably he 
made the ter- 
ritory of 
Agade as 
large as that 
of Babylon. 



of Agade he made like those of Babylon. But because of 
the evil which he had committed the great lord Marduk 
was angry, and he destroyed his people by famine. From 
the rising of the Sun unto the setting of the sun they op- 
posed him and gave him no rest. 



Hammurabi, 
king of Bab- 
ylon, 1958- 
1916. 

Ancient 
World, 25. 

Marduk, chief 
god of Baby- 
lon. Bel 
(Baal) means 
"lord." 

Sumer and 
Accad, 
countries of 
the Sumer- 
ians and the 
Accadians; 
Ancient 
World, 23. 

Such assem- 
blies of the 
people are 
unusual in 
the Orient. 

The divine 
right of kings 
is extremely 
ancient. 



II. Achievements of Hammurabi 

An inscription in the Babylonian language, a dialect of the Semitic, 
in the Museum of Paris. All the inscriptions of Oriental kings lay 
stress on their great piety and on the favor of the gods through which 
they rule and win victories in war. This document attests further 
the paternal care of Hammurabi for his people. Records of the Past, i. 2 
7f- 

Hammurabi, the exalted King, the King of Babylon, 
the King renowned throughout the world, conqueror of 
the enemies of Marduk, the King beloved by his heart am I. 

The favor of god and Bel gave the people of Sumer and 
Accad unto my government. Their celestial weapons 
unto my hand they gave. The canal Hammurabi, the 
joy of men, a stream of abundant waters, for the people 
of Sumer and Accad I excavated. Its banks, all of them, 
I restored to newness; new supporting walls I heaped up; 
perennial waters for the people of Sumer and Accad I 
provided. 

The people of Sumer and Accad, all of them, in general 
assemblies I summoned. A review and inspection of them I 
ordained every year. In joy and abundance I watched 
over them, and in peaceful habitations I caused them to 
dwell. 

By the divine favor I am Hammurabi, the exalted King, 
the worshipper of the supreme deity. 

With the prosperous power which Marduk gave me, 
I built a lofty citadel on a high mound of earth, whose 



The Oldest Extant Code 29 

summits rose up like mountains, on the bank of Ham- 
murabi river, the joy of men. 



III. Laws of Hammurabi 

If a man bring an accusation against a man and charge Capital of- 

fences* 
him with a (capital) crime, but cannot prove it, he, the 



As an intro- 
duction to 



accuser, shall be put to death. 

If a man in a case (pending judgment) bear false wit- 
ness, or do not establish the testimony he has given, if this extract, 
that case be a case involving life, that man shall be put to world, X%Tl 
death. *i. 

If a man steal the property of a god or palace, that man Th j s code 

rrjiKCs 3. re- 

shall be put to death; and he who receives from his hand markably free 
the stolen (property) shall also be put to death. Jjeath pen- 

If a man aid a male or female slave of a freeman to ^ty. 
escape from the city gate, he shall be put to death. 

If a man practice brigandage and be captured, that man 

shall be put to death. 

If the brigand be not captured, the man who has been State insur- 

. ance against 

robbed, shall in the presence of god make an itemized robbery. 

statement of his loss, and the city and the governor, in 
whose province and jurisdiction the robbery was com- 
mitted, shall compensate him for whatever was lost. 

If a son be too young and be not able to conduct the Women in 

business, 
business of his father, they shall give one third of the field 

and of the garden to his mother, and his mother shall rear 

him. 

A woman, merchant or other property holder may sell 
field, garden or house. The purchaser shall conduct the 
business of the field, garden or house which he has pur- 
chased. 

If outlaws collect in the house of a wine-seller, and she 



30 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

do not arrest these outlaws and bring them to the police, 
the wine-seller shall be put to death. 
Family law. if a man be in debt and sell his wife, son or daughter, or 
bind them over to service, for three years they shall work 
in the house of their purchaser or master; in the fourth 
year they shall be given their freedom. 

If a man take a wife and do not arrange with her the 
proper contracts, that woman is not a (legal) wife. 

If a woman hate her husband and say: "Thou shalt not 
have me," they shall inquire into her antecedents for her 
defects; and if she have been a careful mistress and be 
without reproach and her husband have been going about 
greatly belittling her, that woman has no blame. She 
shall receive her dowry and shall go to her father's 
house. 

If she have not been a careful mistress, have gadded 
about and have belittled her husband, they shall throw that 
woman into the water. 

If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers. 

" An eye for if a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall 

an eye and a 

tooth for a destroy his eye. 

If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. 

If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone 
of a man's slave, he shall pay one half his price. 
Compensa- if a physician operate on a man for a severe wound 
work. (or make a severe wound on a man) with a bronze lancet 

and save the man's life; or if he open an abscess (in the 
eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and save that man's 
eye, he shall receive ten shekels (as a fee). 

If with a bronze lancet a physician operate on a man 
for a severe wound and cause the man's death; or with a 
bronze lancet open an abscess (in the eye) of a man and 
destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers. 



Assyria 31 



If a man hire a field laborer, he shall pay 8 gur of grain 

per year. 

If a male slave say to his master: "Thou art not my Slave and 
J master, 

master," his master shall prove him to be his slave and 

shall cut off his ear. 



IV. TlGLATH-PlLESER I 

This document is inscribed on four large octagonal cylinders of 
clay, originally buried under the foundations of the four corners of a 
temple in the ancient city of Assur, and now in the British Museum. 
Records of the Past, i. 92-121. 

Ye great gods, guiders of heaven and earth, whose on- Tiglath- 
set is opposition and combat, who have magnified the c i rca II2 5. 
kingdom of Tiglath-Pileser, the prince, the chosen, of the 
desire of your hearts, the exalted shepherd, whom you The first not- 
have conjured in the steadfastness of your hearts, with a Jonquerw^ 11 
crown supreme you have clothed him; to rule over the ^^ l 21 
land of Bel mightily you have established him; priority 
of birth, supremacy and heroism have you given him; the 
destiny of his lordship for his increase and supremacy, to 
inhabit Bit-kharsag-kurkurra forever you have summoned. 

May Assur and the great gods who have magnified my Conquest 
kingdom, who have given increase and strength to my tion. 
fetters, who have ordered the boundary of their land to be 
enlarged, cause my hand to hold their mighty weapons, Assur, the su- 
even the deluge of battle. Countries, mountains, for- Assyria? 
tresses, and kinglets, the enemies of Assur, I have con- 
quered, and their territories I have made submit. With 
sixty kings I have contended furiously, and power and 
rivalry over them I displayed. A rival in the combat, a 
confronter in the battle have I not. To the land of As- 
syria I have added land, to its men I have added men; the 



Treatment 
of the con- 
quered. 



He spares 
suppliants. 



Zoological 
collection. 



32 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

boundary of my own land I have enlarged, and all their 
lands I have conquered. . . . 

Trusting in Assur my lord I assembled my chariots 
and armies. Thereupon I delayed not. The mountain of 
Kasi-Yara, a difficult region, I crossed, with their twenty 
thousand fighting men, and their five kings in the land 
of Kummukh I contended. A destruction of them I made. 
The bodies of their warriors in destructive battle like the 
inundator (Rimmon) I overthrew; their corpses I spread 
over the valleys and the high places of the mountains. 
Their heads I cut off; at the sides of their cities I heaped 
them like mounds. Their spoil, their property, their goods, 
to a countless number I brought forth. Six thousand men, 
the relics of their armies, which before my weapons had 
fled, took my feet. I laid hold upon them and counted 
them among the men of my own country. . . . 

Under the protection of Uras, who loves me, 120 lions 
with my stout heart, in the conflict of my heroism on my 
feet, I slew; and 800 lions in my chariot with javelins I 
slaughtered. All the cattle of the field and the birds of 
heaven that fly, among my rareties I placed. . . . 



Site and 
building ma- 
terials. 



Ancient 
World, 27. 



V. Nebuchadnezzar's Palace 

This brief reference to the building of a palace in Babylon is taken 
from a long inscription by "that monarch, whose chief interest was in 
the construction of public works and other internal improvements. 
Records of the Past, v. 130 f. 

A palace of My Royalty for the land of Babylon, in 
the midst of the city of Babylon. . . . 

Opposite the waters I laid its foundations and with 
brick and cement I skilfully surrounded it; tall cedars for 
its porticoes I fitted — ikki and cedar woods with layers of 
copper; domes and arches were covered with bronze work. I 



Babylon 33 

strongly overlaid its gates with silver, gold, precious stones, 
whatsoever they call them, in heaps; I valiantly collected 
spoils; as an adornment of the house were they arranged, 
and were collected within it; trophies, abundance, royal 
treasures, I accumulated, and gathered together. 

VI. Babylon 

Babylon itself also is situated in a plain. The wall is Walls and 
385 stadia in circumference, and 32 feet in thickness. The Gardens, 
height of the space between the towers is 50, and of the 
towers 60 cubits. The roadway upon the walls will allow Strabo xvi. 
chariots with four horses when they meet to pass each other x * 
with ease. Whence, among the seven wonders of the world, 
are reckoned this wall and the hanging garden: the shape 
of the garden is a square, and each side of it measures Ancient 
four plethra. It consists of vaulted terraces, raised one 
above another, and resting upon cube-shaped pillars. 
These are hollow and filled with earth to allow trees of the 
largest size to be planted. The pillars, the vaults, and the 
terraces are constructed of baked brick and asphalt. 

The ascent to the highest story is by stairs, and at their 
side are water engines, by means of which persons, ap- 
pointed expressly for the purpose, are continually em- 
ployed in raising water from the Euphrates into the gar- 
den. For the river, which is a stadium in breadth, flows 
through the middle of the city, and the garden is on the 
side of the river. 

VII. The Chaldean Account of the Deluge 

This account of the flood is found inscribed on some Assyrian ' 

tablets in the British Museum. The origin, age, and history of the 
legend are not known. It forms a part of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" 
in twelve books. Ancient World, 32. It is interesting to compare 



34 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 

this account of the deluge with that of Genesis, chs. vi-ix. (Amer- 
ican) Records of the Past, i. 376-380. 

T ^e gods Nuh-napishtim saith to him, even to Gilgamesh: let 

building of a me unfold to thee, Gilgamesh, a secret story, and the decree 

s ip * of the gods let me tell thee ! Shurippak, a city thou know- 

Nuh-napish- es t. On the banks of the Euphrates it lieth ; that city was 

tun is the . 

Babylonian full of violence, and the gods within it — to make a flood 
games'h, to their heart urged them, even the mighty gods. Their 
whom he tells f a ther was Anu, their counsellor the warrior Bel, their 

the story, is 7 

a hero, like throne-bearer Ninib, their champion Innugi. Nin-igi- 

Hercuies. azeg, even la, had sat near them, and their talk he re- 
peated to the reed-fence : " Reed-fence, reed-fence ! House- 

Shurippak is wall! house-wall! Reed-fence listen! and house-wall, 

of Babylonia; give heed ! Man of Shurippak, son of Ubara-Tutu, pull 

heaven; Bel down the house, and build a ship ! Leave goods, seek life ! 

ff aa d'" Property forsake, and life preserve! Cause seed of life 

epithet of of every sort to go up into the ship! The ship which thou 

earth; g Ea,° shalt build, exact be its dimensions; equal be its length and 

the sea god. breadth | 0n the ocean launch it | » 

Building and j understood, and said unto la, my lord, " The command, 
the ship. my lord, which thou spakest thus, I honor, I will do it! 
But what shall I answer the city, the people, and the el- 
ders? " la framed his mouth and answered, He saith unto 
me, his slave, "Answer thus thou shalt make unto them, 
'Bel hath rejected and hateth me, and I may no longer 
dwell in your city, and toward Bel's ground I may no 
longer turn my face; but I will go down to the ocean, and 
with la my lord will I dwell! Upon you it will rain 
heavily.'" . . . 
A common On the fifth day I laid down the frame of it; at its bul- 

cubit is about . ' . . 

18 inches. warks its sides were 140 cubits high; the border of its top 
equaled 140 cubits. I laid down its form, I figured it; I 
constructed it in six stories, dividing it into seven com- 



The Great Flood 35 

partments; its floors I divided into nine chambers each. 
Water-pegs inside it I drove to stop leaks. I chose a mast 
and supplied what was necessary: six sars of bitumen I 
poured over the outside, three sars of bitumen I poured 
over the inside. While the basket-bearers were carrying 
three sars of oil abroad, I reserved one sar of oil, which the 
libations consumed; two sars of oil the shipmen stored 
away. For the men's food I slaughtered oxen; I slew small 
cattle every day; new wine, sesame wine, oil and grape 
wine, the people I gave to drink, like the water of a river. 
A feast I made, like New Year's Day. With all that I 
possessed I freighted it; with all that I had of silver I 
freighted it; with all that I had of gold I freighted it; with 
all that I had of seed of life of every sort I freighted it; 
I put on board all my family and clan; cattle of the field, 
wild beasts of the field, all the craftsmen, I put on board. 

A time Samas appointed, saying, "When the Lord of The flood. 
Storm at eventide causes the heavens to rain heavily, enter 
into the ship, and shut thy door!" That time came; the Samas is the 
Lord of Storm at eventide caused the heavens to rain sung0 ■ 
heavily. I dreaded the appearance of day; I was afraid 
of beholding day; I entered the ship and shut my door. 
For the steering of the ship, to Bezur-Bel, the shipman, 
the great vessel I handed over, with its freight. When the 
first light of dawn appeared there rose from the foundation 
of heaven a black cloud : Rimmon in the heart of it thun- Rimmon, god 
ders, and Nebo and Marduk march before; the Throne- Marduk, god 
Bearers march o'er mountain and plain. The mighty Nebof8s°son. 
Dibbarra wrenches away the helm ; Ninib goes on, pouring 
out ruin. The Anunnaki (earth spirits) lift torches; with Ninib, chief 
their sheen they lighten the world. Rimmon's violence spirits. 
reacheth heaven; whatever is bright he turneth into dark- 
ness. One day the southern blast hard it blew, and like a 



36 The Tigris-Euphrates Valley 



Ishtar, god- 
dess of love 
and beauty, 
like the Greek 
Aphrodite 
(Lat. Venus). 



The flood 
abates. 



battle-charge upon mankind rush the waters. One no 
longer sees another; no more are men discerned in heaven. 
The gods were dismayed at the flood, and sought refuge 
in ascending to the highest heaven ; the gods cowered like 
dogs; on the battlements of heaven they crouched. Ishtar 
screamed like a woman in travail, the loud-voiced Lady of 
the gods exclaims, "Yon generation is turned again to clay ! 
As I in the assembly of the gods foretold the evil — like 
as I foretold in the assembly of the gods the evil; a tempest 
for the destruction of the people I foretold. But I will 
give birth to my people again, though like the fry of fishes 
they fill the sea! " Because of the Anunnaki, the gods wept 
with her; the gods were downcast, they sat weeping; 
closed were their lips. During six days and nights wind, 
flood, storm, ever more fiercely whelmed the land. 

When the seventh day came, storm and flood ceased the 
battle, wherein they had contended like a host: the sea 
lulled, the blast fell, the flood ceased. I looked for the 
people with a cry of lamentation; but all mankind had 
turned again into clay; the tilled land was becoming like 
the waste. I opened the window, and daylight fell upon 
my cheeks; crouching I sit and weep; over my cheeks course 
my tears. I looked at the heavens, the borders of the sea; 
toward the twelfth point rose the land. To the country 
of Nizir the ship made way; the mountain of the country 
of Nizir caught the ship, and suffered it not to stir. One 
day, a second day, the mountains of Nizir caught the 
ship; a third day, a fourth day, the mountains of Nizir 
caught the ship; a fifth, a sixth, the mountains of Nizir 
caught the ship. But when the seventh day was come, I 
brought out a dove and let it go. The dove went to and 
fro, but found no foothold, and returned. Then I brought 
out a swallow and let it go; the swallow went to and fro, 



The Great Flood 37 

but found no foothold and returned. Then 1 brought out 
a raven and let it go; the raven went off, noticed the dying 
of the water, and feeding, wading, croaking, returned not. 

Then I brought out everything to the four winds, sacri- They go 
need victims, made an offering of incense on the mountain the ship, 
top; seven and seven tripods I set, into their bowls I 
poured calamus, cedar, fragrant herbs; the gods snuffed 
the odor, the gods snuffed the pleasant odor, the gods like 
flies swarmed above the sacrificer. But when Ishtar was 
come from afar, she lifted up the Great Gems, which 
Anu had made to adorn her. "These gods," she cried, 
"by mine azure collar I will never forget! These days will 
I bear in mind and nevermore forget! Let the gods go to 
the incense offering! But let Bel never go to the incense 
offering. Forasmuch as he took no counsel, but caused 
the flood and delivered my people to destruction." But 
when Bel was come from afar, he saw the ship, and Bel 
waxed wrathful; he was filled with wrath at the gods, and 
the Igigi (spirits of heaven): "Some soul," he cried, "hath 
escaped! Let not a man survive the destruction! " Ninib 
frameth his mouth and speaketh — he saith to the warrior 
Bel: "Who then but la doeth the thing? la is versed in 
every wile." 

la frameth his mouth and speaketh — he saith to the Other forms 

of destruc- 

warrior Bel, "Thou, O sage of the gods and warrior, in no- tion for men. 
wise hast thou been well-counselled in causing a flood! 
On the sinner lay his sin! On the guilty lay his guilt! 
But remit somewhat! Let him not be cut off! forbear! 
let him not be swept away! Instead of thy causing a 
flood, let the lion come and minish mankind! Instead of 
thy causing a flood, let the leopard come and minish man- 
kind! Instead of thy causing a flood, let famine break 
out and desolate the land ! Instead of thy causing a flood, 



god 



38 The Tigris- Euphrates Valley 

let pestilence come and slay mankind! I divulged not 
the decision of the mighty gods; someone caused Atranasis 
to see visions, and so he heard the decisions of the gods." 
Thereupon he took counsel with himself; Bel came on 
board the ship, seized my hand and led me up out of the 
ship, let up my wife and made her kneel beside me; he 
turned us face to face, and standing between us, blessed 
Nuh-napish- USj saying, "Ere this, Nuh-napishtim was human; but 
wife become now Nuh-napishtim and his wife shall be like us gods! 
Nuh-napishtim shall dwell far away from men, at the 
mouth of the rivers!" Then they took me, and made me 
dwell far away, at the mouth of the rivers. 

VIII. The Descent of Ishtar to Hades 

This legend is from a tablet in the British Museum. The begin- 
ning of it is here given for the purpose of showing the Babylonian and 
Assyrian view of the future world and of the condition of the dead. 
Records of the Past, i 2 . 145 ff. 

To the land of Hades, the region of her desire, Ishtar 
daughter of the Moon-god San turned her mind, and the 
daughter of San fixed her mind to go there; to the house 
where all meet, the dwelling of the god Irkalla, to the house 
men enter, but cannot depart from; to the road men go, 
but cannot return. The abode of darkness and famine, 
where earth is their food; their nourishment is clay; light 
is not seen; in darkness they dwell; ghosts, like birds, flut- 
ter their wings there; on the door and gate-posts the dust 
lies undisturbed. 

IX. Prayers for the Soul of a Dying Man 

Records of the Past, iii. 134. 

I. Like a bird may it fly to a lofty place! To the holy 
lands of its god, may it ascend! 



Astronomy ; Magic 39 

II. The man who is departing in glory: may his soul These prayers 
shine radiant as brass. To that man may the Sun give happier out- 
life! and Marduk, eldest Son of heaven, grant him an luture P iife. the 
abode of happiness! 



X. An Astronomical Observation 

Report of the astronomer Ablua to the king of Accad. Records of 
the Past, i 2 . 159. 

The 15th day the Moon and Sun with one another 
are seen. The face is stedfast. The heart of land is good. 
Joy possesses the heart of the inhabitants. The gods of 
Accad to prosperity consign it. The Moon and the Sun 
are clear; the King of the land his ears enlarges. The re- 
port of Ablua. 

XL Babylonian Charms 

The Babylonians and Assyrians believed in hosts of noxious 
spirits which attacked different parts of the body. The charms were 
repeated to keep them away or to expel them from the body. Records 
of the Past, i 2 . 135-7. 

Wasting, want of health, the evil spirit of the ulcer, The aim of 
spreading quinsey of the gullet, the violent ulcer, the to'expeUhe 15 
noxious ulcer. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth bribed de ~ 
remember. 

He who makes an image which injures the man, an evil This charm 
face, an evil eye, an evil mouth, an evil tongue, evil lips, act the evil 
an evil poison. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth suchlmage* 
remember. 

On the sick man by the sacrifice of mercy may perfect Charm for the 

11 1 r> • 1. cure of the 

health shine like bronze; may the Sun-god give this man sick. 
life; may Marduk, the eldest son of the deep give him 



4Q The Tigris- Euphrates Valley 



Dress. 



Herodotus i. 
iQ5- 



Marriage. 



lb. iq6 



strength, prosperity, and health. Spirit of heaven re- 
member, spirit of earth remember. 

XII. Babylonian Customs 

The following is the manner of dress which they use, 
namely a linen tunic reaching to the feet, and over this 
they put on another of wool, and- then a white mantle 
thrown around, while they have shoes of native fashion 
rather like the Boeotian slippers. They wear their hair 
long and bind their heads around with fillets, and they 
are anointed over the whole of their bodies with perfumes. 
Each man has a seal and staff carved by hand, and on each 
staff is carved either an apple or a rose or a lily or an eagle 
or some other device, for it is not their custom to have a 
staff without a device upon it. 

Such is the equipment of their bodies: and the customs 
which are established among them are as follows, the wis- 
est in our opinion being this, which I am informed that 
the Enetoi in Illyria also have. In every village once in 
each year it was done as follows : — when the maidens grew 
to the age for marriage, they gathered these all together 
and brought them in a body to one place, and round them 
stood a company of men: and the crier caused each one 
severally to stand up, and proceeded to sell them, first 
the most comely of all, and afterwards, when she had been 
sold and had fetched a large sum of money, he would put 
up another who was the most comely after her: and they 
were sold for marriage. Now all the wealthy men of the 
Babylonians who were ready to marry vied with one an- 
other in bidding for the most beautiful maidens; those 
however of the common sort who were ready to marry 
did not require a fine form, but they would accept money 
together with less comely maidens. For when the crier 



Babylonian Marriage 41 

had made an end of selling the most comely of the maidens, 
then he would cause to stand up the one who was least 
shapely, or any one of them who might be crippled in any 
way, and he would make proclamation of her, asking who 
was willing for least gold to have her in marriage, until 
she was assigned to him who was willing to accept least; 
and the gold would be got from the sale of the comely 
maidens, and so those of beautiful form provided dowries 
for those who were unshapely or crippled; but to give in 
marriage one's own daughter to whomsoever each man 
would, was not allowed, nor to carry off the maiden after 
buying her without a surety; for it was necessary for the 
man to provide sureties that he would marry her, before 
he took her away; and if they did not agree well together, 
the law was laid down that he should pay back the money. 

STUDIES 

1. Describe in simple language the achievements of Sargon. What 
does the writer suppose to have been the cause of the famine? 

2. Of what especial achievements does Hammurabi boast? 

3. How were crimes punished under his code? What legal rights 
were enjoyed by women? by children? 

4. What had the Assyrian gods to do with conquest? What are 
all the motives to conquest mentioned in this selection? How were 
the conquered treated? 

5. Describe Nebuchadnezzar's palace. 

6. Describe the two greatest "Wonders" of Babylon. 

7. Where in the Bible is the account of the flood? Compare it 
in detail with the Chaldean account. 

8. What view of the future life do we find in this selection? 

9. Compare this view of the future world with that in the selection 
above. 

10. Explain the meaning of this selection. 

11. What light does this selection throw on Babylonian character? 

1 2. What is your opinion of the marriage custom of the Babylonians 
here described by Herodotus? 



CHAPTER IV 



SYRIA: THE PHCENICIANS AND THE HEBREWS 



Comparative 
importance. 



Strabo xvi. 2. 
22-4. 



Ancient 
World, 38 f. 



Tyre: its 
dwellings 
and dye- 
works. 



Ancient 
World, 280 f. 



I. Sidon and Tyre 

Next to Sidon is Tyre, the largest and most ancient 
city of the Phoenicians. This city is the rival of Sidon in 
magnitude, fame, and antiquity, as recorded in many 
fables. For although poets have celebrated Sidon more 
than Tyre (Homer does not even mention Tyre), yet 
the colonies sent into Africa and Spain, as far as, and 
beyond the pillars, extol much more the glory of Tyre. 
Both however were formerly, and are at present, dis- 
tinguished and illustrious cities, but which of the two 
should be called the capital of Phoenicia is a subject of 
dispute among the inhabitants. Sidon is situated upon a 
fine naturally-formed harbor on the mainland. 

Tyre is wholly an island, built in nearly the same man- 
ner as Aradus. It is joined to the continent by a mound, 
which Alexander raised, when he was besieging it. It has 
two harbors, one close, the other open, which is called the 
Egyptian harbor. The houses here, it is said, consist of 
many stories, of more than at Rome; on the occurrence, 
therefore, of an earthquake, the city was nearly demolished. 
It sustained great injury when it was taken by siege by 
Alexander, but it rose above these misfortunes, and recov- 
ered itself both by the skill of the people in the art of navi- 
gation, in which the Phoenicians in general have always 
excelled all nations, and by (the export of) purple-dyed 
manufactures, the Tyrian purple being in the highest esti- 

42 



Sea-Purple and Tin 43 

mation. The shell-fish from which it is procured is caught 
near the coast, and the Tyrians have in great abundance 
other requisites for dyeing. The great number of dyeing 
works renders the city unpleasant as a place of residence, 
but the superior skill of the people in the practice of this 
art is the source of its w T ealth. Their independence was 
secured to them at a small expense to themselves, not only 
by the kings of Syria, but also by the Romans, who con- 
firmed what the former had conceded. They pay extrava- 
gant honors to Hercules. The great number and magni- 
tude of their colonies and cities are proofs of their mari- 
time skill and power. Such then are the Tyrians. 
The Sidonians are said by historians to excel in various intellectual 

. Life. 

kinds of art, as the words of Homer also imply. Be- 
sides, they cultivate science and study astronomy and 
arithmetic, to which they were led by the application of Strabo 1. c. 
numbers (in accounts) and night sailing, each of which 
(branches of knowledge) concerns the merchant and sea- 
man. 

II. The Cassiterides Islands 

The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each The Natives 
other in the ocean towards the north from the haven of trade, 
the Artabri. One of them is desert, but the others are 
inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching 
to the feet, girt about the breast, and walking with staves, Strabo Hi. 5, 
thus resembling the Furies we see in tragic representa- 
tions. They subsist by their cattle, leading for the most 
part a wandering life. Of the metals they have tin and 
lead; which with skins they barter with the merchants 
for earthenware, salt, and brazen vessels. Formerly the 
Phoenicians alone carried on this traffic from Gades, con- 
cealing the passage from every one; and when the Romans 



44 Syria 

followed a certain ship-master, that they also might find 
the market, the ship-master in jealousy purposely ran 
his vessel upon a shoal, leading on those who followed him 
into the same destructive disaster; he himself escaped by 
means of a fragment of the ship, and received from the 
state the value of the cargo he had lost. The Romans 
nevertheless by frequent efforts discovered the passage, 
and as soon as Publius Crassus, passing over to them, per- 
ceived that the metals were dug out at a little depth and 
that the men were peaceably disposed, he declared it to 
those who already wished to traffic in this sea for profit, 
although the passage was longer than that to Britain. 

III. Phoenicians Work the Iberian Silver Mines 

The Silver Almost all this country is full of such mines, whence 

is dug very good and pure silver; so that those who deal 
in that metal, gain great profit. And in the former book 

Diodorusv. 2. we have spoken of the Pyrenees mountains in Iberia, when 
we treated of the acts and achievements of Hercules; these 
are the highest and greatest of all; for from the south sea, 

Ancient almost as far as the northern ocean, they divide Gaul from 

World, 39 f. _. . , . . , 

Iberia and Leltibena, running out for the space of three 
thousand furlongs. As these places are full of woods, 
it is reported that in ancient time this mountainous tract 
was set on fire by some shepherds, and continued burning 
for many days together, whence the mountains were called 
Pyrenees. The parched surface of the earth sweated, 
abundance of silver, the ore being melted, flowed down in 
pure streams like a river. Its use being unknown to the 
inhabitants, the Phoenician merchants bought it for trifles 
given in exchange, and by transporting it into Greece, 
Asia, and all other nations, greatly enriched themselves; 
and such was their covetousness, that when they had fully 



US IV, 

196. 



Colonization and Commerce 45 

loaded their ships, and had much more silver to bring 
aboard, they cut off the lead from their anchors, and made 
use of silver instead of the other metal. 

For a long time using this trade, and so growing more 
and more wealthy, the Phoenicians sent many colonies 
into Sicily and the neighboring islands, and at length into 
Africa and Sardinia. 

IV. Phcenician Trade 

The Carthaginians say also this, namely, that there A peculiar 
is a place in Libya and men dwelling there, outside the barter. 
Pillars of Heracles, to whom when they have come and 
have taken the merchandise forth from their ships, they Herodot 
set it in order along the beach and embark again in their 
ships, and after that they raise a smoke; and the natives 
of the country seeing the smoke, come to the sea, and then 
they lay down gold as an equivalent for the merchandise 
and retire to a distance away from the merchandise. The 
Carthaginians upon that disembark and examine it, and 
if the gold is, in their opinion, sufficient for the value of the 
merchandise, they take it up and go their way; but if not, 
they embark again in their ships and sit there; and the 
others approach and straightway add more gold to the 
former, until they satisfy them; and they say that neither 
party wrongs the other; for neither do the Carthaginians 
lay hands on the gold until it is made equal to the value 
of their merchandise, nor do the others lay hands on the 
merchandise until the Carthaginians have taken the gold. 

V. The Commerce of Tyre 

O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Industries 

Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders "* impor s ' 
have perfected thy beauty. 



46 Syria 

Ezekiel xxvii. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; 
they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for 
thee. 

Of the oaks of Bashan they have made thine oars; the 
company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, 
brought out of the isles of Chittim. 

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that 
which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail ; blue and purple 
from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. 

The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mar- 
iners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy 
pilots. . . . 

Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude 
of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they 
traded in thy fairs. 

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants; 
they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy 
market. 

They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with 
horses and horsemen and mules. 

The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were 
the merchandise of thy hand; they brought thee for a 
present horns of ivory and ebony. 

Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of 
the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with 
emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and 
coral, and agate. 

Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants; 
they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith and Pannag, 
and honey, and oil, and balm. 

Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the 
wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the 
wine of Helbon, and white wool. 



The Gift of the Alphabet 47 

Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy 
fairs; bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. 



VI. They Gave the Alphabet to Greece 

Now these Phoenicians brought in among the Hellenes 
many arts when they settled in this land of Bceotia, and 
especially letters, which did not exist, as it appears to me, 
among the Hellenes before this time; and at first they 
brought in those which are used by the Phoenician race gen- 
erally, but afterwards, as time went on, they changed with Herodotus v. 
their speech the form of the letters also. During this time 5 ' 
the Ionians were the race of Hellenes who dwelt near them 
in most of the places where they were; and these having 
received letters by instruction of the Phoenicians, changed 
their form slightly and so made use of them, and in doing 
so they declared them to be called "phenicians" as was 
just, seeing that the Phoenicians had introduced them into 
Hellas. Also the Ionians from ancient times call paper 
" skins," because, formerly paper being scarce, they used 
skins of sheep and goats; nay, even in my own time many 
of the Barbarians write on such skins. 

VII. Letter of Ebed-Tob, Governor of Jerusalem, 
to the King of Egypt 

In the latter part of the fifteenth century, the successors of Thoth- 
mes III weakened and his great empire declined; Ancient World, 12. 
Syria, his chief dependency, fell into anarchy. The petty princes 
and governors of cities warred against one another and rebelled 
against pharaoh. Letters poured into his hands from them, accusing 
one another of disloyalty and imploring military protection. A 
great number of these letters have been found in excavations at 
Tel-el- Amarna, Egypt. Written in the Babylonian language and the 
cuneiform script, the}- prove the dominance of Babylonian culture 



4 8 



Syria 



Letter of 
Ebed-Tob to 

pharaoh. 

Someone has 
accused 
Ebed-Tob of 
disloyalty to 
pharaoh. 
He has re- 
ceived his 
kingdom, not 
by inherit- 
ance, but di- 
rectly from 
God. He 
protests his 
innocence. 

The Commis- 
sioner, an 
officer of 
pharaoh; 
confederates, 
people of 
Hebron, a 
city hostile to 
Jerusalem. 

Governors, 
appointed by 
pharaoh to 
rule the cities. 
The country, 
wasted by 
civil war. 
needs mili- 
tary protec- 
tion. 



over Syria in the fifteenth century and the use of the Babylonian 
language for general diplomatic purposes. The following letter was 
addressed to pharaoh by Ebed-Tob, priest-king of Jerusalem long 
before the Hebrew conquest of Canaan. Records of the Past, v 2 . 66-8. 

To the king my lord speak thus: I Ebed-tob, thy serv- 
ant, at the feet of my lord the king, seven times seven 
prostrate myself. What have I done against the king my 
lord? They have slandered myself, laying wait for me in 
the presence of the king, the lord, saying: Ebed-tob has 
revolted from the king his lord. Behold, neither my 
father nor my mother has exalted me in this place; the 
prophecy of the mighty King has caused me to enter the 
house of my father. Why should I have committed a sin 
against the king the lord? With the king my lord is life. 
I say to the Commissioner of the king my lord: Why dost 
thou love the Confederates, and the governors thou hat- 
est? and constantly I am sending to the presence of the 
king my lord to say that the countries of the king my lord 
are being destroyed. . . . 

All the governors are destroyed; no governor remains 
to the king the lord. May the king turn his face to the 
men, and may he send auxiliaries, even the troops of the 
king my lord. No countries remain unto the king: the 
Confederates have wasted all the countries of the king. 
If auxiliaries come this year, the countries of the king the 
lord will be preserved; but if no auxiliaries come the coun- 
tries of the king my lord are destroyed. . . . 



VIII. The Ten Commandments 

And God spake all these words, saying, 
I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out 
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 



The Ten Commandments 49 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or Exodus xx. 
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : 

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve 
them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love 
me and keep my commandments. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh 
his name in vain. 

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; 
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor 
thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor 
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the 
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: 
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hal- 
lowed it. 

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may 
be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

Thou shalt not kill. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

Thou shalt not steal. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt 
not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor 
his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that 
is thy neighbor's. 



5o 



Syria 



IX. The Building of Solomon's Temple 



The work 
men. 



/ Kings v. 
13-18; vi. 



Ancient 
World, 44 



Materials. 



And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and 
the levy was thirty thousand men. 

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by 
courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months 
at home; and Adoniram was over the levy. 

And Solomon had three score and ten thousand that 
bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the moun- 
tains; 

Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over 
the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled 
over the people that wrought in the work. 

And the king commanded, and they brought great 
stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the 
foundation of the house. 

And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew 
them, and the stonesquarers; so they prepared timber and 
stones to build the house. 

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth 
year after the children of Israel were come out of the land 
of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, 
in the month Zif , which is the second month, that he began 
to build the house of the Lord. 
Dimensions. And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, 
the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth 
thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. 

And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty 
cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of 
the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before 
the house. 

And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. 
Chambers. And against the wall of the house he built chambers 



Solomons Temple 51 

round about, against the walls of the house round about, 
both of the temple and the oracle; and he made chambers 
round about: 

The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and 
the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven 
cubits broad; for without in the wall of the house he made 
narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be 
fastened in the walls of the house. 

And the house when it was in building, was built of 
stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that 
there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard 
in the house, while it was in building. 

The door for the middle chamber was in the right side 
of the house; and they went up with winding stairs into 
the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. 

So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the 
house with beams and boards of cedar. 

And then he built chambers against all the house, five 
cubits high; and they rested on the house with timber of 
cedar. 

And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, The promise 

Concerning this house which thou art in building, if 
thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, 
and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then 
will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto 
David thy father; 

And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will 
not forsake my people Israel. 

So Solomon built the house, and finished it. 

And he built the walls of the house within with boards The interior. 
of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the 
ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and 
covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 



52 Syria 

And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, 
both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; he even 
built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the 
most holy place. 

And the house, that is the temple before it, was forty 
cubits long. 

And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops 
and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 

And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to 
set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 

And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in 
length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits 
in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold; 
and so covered the altar which was of cedar. 

So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold; 
and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the 
oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. 

And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he 
had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was by 
the oracle he overlaid with gold. 
Cherubims. And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive 
tree, each ten cubits high. 

And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and 
five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the utter- 
most part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the 
other were ten cubits. 

And the other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubims 
were of one measure and one size. 

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was 
it of the other cherub. 

And he set the cherubims within the inner house; and 
they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that 
the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of 



Solomon's Temple 53 

the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings 
touched one another in the midst of the house. 

And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 

And he carved all the walls of the house round about 
with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open 
flowers, within and without. 

And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within 
and without. 

And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive 
tree; the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. 

And the two doors were of fir tree; the two leaves of 
the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other 
door were folding. 

And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and 
open flowers; and covered them with gold fitted upon the 
carved work. 

And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed 
stone, and a row of cedar beams. 

In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of 
the Lord laid, in the month Zif. 

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bui, which is 
the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all 
the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. 
So was he seven years in building it. 

X. The Goodness and Mercy of God 

The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. The Lord is 

He maketh me to lie down in the green pastures: he lead- jf e ^£ ep ~ 
eth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of Psalm xxiii. 
righteousness for his name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 



54 Syria 

death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and 
thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 
mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup 
runneth over. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days 
of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for- 
ever. 

STUDIES 

i. What was the condition of Sidon and Tyre in Strabo's time? 

2. Where were the Cassiterides islands and what were their prod- 
ucts? 

3. What metals did the Phoenicians find in Iberia (Spain)? How 
did this wealth influence them? 

4. Describe the peculiar method of barter followed by the Car- 
thaginians in Libya? Who were the Carthaginians? 

5. Who was Ezekiel and what did he write? Mention the various 
articles bought and sold in the Tyrian markets. 

6. What was the chief benefit of the Phoenicians to Greece? 
What were the writing materials? 

7. What position was held by Ebed-Tob? Compare him with 
Melchizedek (Genesis xiv. 18-20), another priest-king of Jerusalem. 

8. Where is the book called Exodus found? Compare the Ten 
Commandments with the best Egyptian precepts. 

9. Describe Solomon's temple. 

10. What conception of God is given in this psalm? Contrast it 
with the Assyrian conception of the deity? 



CHAPTER V 

THE MEDIAN AND PERSIAN EMPIRES 

I. Media: Country and Customs 

It is a Median custom to elect the bravest person as The King. 

king, but this does not generally prevail, being confined to 

the mountain tribes. The custom for the kings to have Straboxi. 

13. ii. 
many wives is more general, it is found among all the 

mountaineers also, but they are not permitted to have 
less than five. In the same manner the women think it 
honorable for husbands to have as many wives as possible, 
and esteem it a misfortune if they have less than five. 

While the rest of Media is very fertile, the northern and 
mountainous part is barren. The people subsist upon the 
produce of trees. They make cakes of apples, sliced and 
dried, and bread of roasted almonds; they express a wine 
from some kind of roots. They eat the flesh of wild animals 
and do not breed any tame animals. So much then respect- 
ing the Medes. As to the laws and customs in common use 
throughout the whole of Media, as they are the same as 
those of the Persians in consequence of the establishment 
of the Persian empire, I shall speak of them when I give 
an account of the latter nation. 

II. Empire of Darius 

The following account of the Persian Empire, composed by Darius, 
is given in an inscription. It describes the composition of the empire 
and illustrates the King's reverence for Ormazd, the supreme deity 
of the Persians. Records of the Past, v. 151-3. 

55 



Extent of his 
empire. 

Ancient 
World, 50 f. 

Ormazd (A- 
hura Mazda), 
the supreme 
deity. 



Map, Ancient 
World, before 
p. I. 



The empire 
did not in 
fact include 
Sparta. 



Protection 
and mainte- 
nance of 
peace. 



Notice his 
high con- 
ception of 
duty to the 
empire. 



56 The Median and Persian Empires 

Chief of the gods is Ormazd, who created heaven and 
earth, and created mankind; who gave to men their various 
fortunes; who created Darius, King of many Kings. I am 
Darius the great King, the King of Kings, the King of the 
nations of every different tongue; the King of the vast and 
wide world; son of Hystaspes the Achsemenian: a Persian, 
son of a Persian. Darius the King says: Under the pro- 
tection of Ormazd, these are the countries which I hold 
besides Persia: and whatever tribute I have commanded 
them to bring, that they brought; and whatever things I 
commanded them to do, that they did; and they fulfilled 
my laws. Media, Susiana, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sog- 
diana, Chorasmia, Zarangia, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gan- 
daria, India; those Cimmerians who are called the Hu- 
murga, those other Cimmerians who wear gloves on their 
hands, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cap- 
padocia, Sparta, Ionia, those Cimmerians who dwell 
beyond the seas, in the land of Scythia; those Ionians 
who wear helmets on their heads; the Budians, the Cos- 
saeans, the Masians, and the land of Cartha. 

Darius the king says: When Ormazd saw that these 
countries were at war with each other continually, after 
he had given me to them and had appointed me to be King 
over them, then I the king under the protection of Ormazd 
kept them all quiet in their right places. Whatever I 
said, that they did, and they wished the thing that I 
wished. And if thou shouldst say thus, "Surely those 
nations will quarrel and split asunder who now obey 
Darius the King," look well at those statutes which sup- 
port my throne, and if thou dost recognize them, then it 
will be known to thee that the spear of the Persian reaches 
far! Then it will be known to thee, that the men of Persia, 
far beyond their own country, wars are wont to wage. 



Darius 57 

Darius the King says, "All this that I have done, under 
the protection of Ormazd, I have done it. Ormazd gave 
me the strength to do these things. May Ormazd protect 
me from everything that is evil, both my family and my 
country, this I pray Ormazd: may Ormazd grant it! O 
man! whatever Ormazd commands, do thou not rebel 
against it! 

III. The Achievements of Darius 

Near the western border of Iran stands the isolated rock of Behis- 
tan, on one side rising almost perpendicular to a height of 1700 feet. 
More than 300 feet above the base Darius the king had his artists 
smooth a large irregular oblong. On the surface thus prepared they 
sculptured scenes from his religious and military life and a chronicle 
of his deeds. The selection given below is from H. C. Tolman, The 
Behistan Inscription of King Darius. 

Says Darius the king: Afterward there was one man, a 
Magian, Gaumata by name: ... he thus deceived the 
people; I am Bardiya the son of Cyrus, brother of Cam- 
byses; afterward all the people became estranged from 
Cambyses and went over to him, both Persia and Media 
and the other provinces; he seized the kingdom; 9 days in 
the month Garmapada were in course — he thus seized 
the kingdom ; afterwards Cambyses died by a self-imposed 
death. 

Says Darius the king: This kingdom which Gaumata 
the Magian took from Cambyses, this kingdom from long 
ago was the possession of our family; afterwards Gaumata 
the Magian took from Cambyses both Persia and Media 
and the other provinces; he seized the power and made it 
his own possession; he became king. 

Says Darius the king: There was not a man neither a 
Persian nor a Median nor any one of our family who could 



58 The Median and Persian Empires 

make Gaumata the Magian deprived of the kingdom; the 
people feared his tyranny; they feared he would slay the 
many who knew Bardiya formerly; for this reason he 
would slay the people, ''that they might not know me 
that I am not Bardiya the son of Cyrus;" anyone did 
not dare to say anything against Gaumata the Magian 
until I came; afterwards I asked Auramazda for help; 
Auramazda bore me aid; 10 days in the month Bagayadish 
were in course — I thus with few men slew that Gaumata 
the Magian and what men were his foremost allies; ... I 
took the kingdom from him; by the grace of Auramazda 
I became king; Auramazda gave me the kingdom. 

Says Darius the king: The kingdom which was taken 
away from our family, this I put in its place; I establish 
it on its foundations; as it was formerly so I made it; the 
sanctuaries which Gaumata the Magian destroyed I re- 
stored; for the people, the revenue and the personal prop- 
erty and the estates and the royal residences which Gau- 
mata the Magian took from them I restored; I established 
the state on its foundation, both Persia and Media and 
the other provinces; as it was formerly, so I brought back 
what had been taken away; by the grace of Auramazda 
this I did; I labored that our royal house I might establish 
in its place; as it was formerly so I made it; I labored by 
the grace of Auramazda that Gaumata the Magian might 
not take away our royal house. . . . 

Says Darius the king: For this reason Auramazda bore 
me aid and the other gods which are, because I was not an 
enemy, I was not a deceiver, I was not a wrong-doer, 
neither I nor my family; according to rectitude I ruled 
nor made I my power an oppression to those who 
praise me; the man who helped my house, him who 
should be well esteemed I esteemed; the man who would 



Persian Religion 59 

destroy it, him who should deserve punishment, I pun- 
ished. 

IV. Persian Customs 

These are the customs, so far as I know, w r hich the Per- Religion, 
sians practice : Images and temples and altars they do not 
account it lawful to erect, nay they even charge with folly Herodotus, 
those who do these things; and this, as it seems to me, be- I31 " 
cause they do not account the gods to be in the likeness of 
men, as do the Hellenes. But it is their wont to perform Ancient 
sacrifices to Zeus, going up to the most lofty of the moun- 
tains, and the whole circle of the heavens they call Zeus: 
and they sacrifice to the Sun and the Moon and the Earth, 
to Fire and to Water and to the Winds : these are the only 
gods to whom they have sacrificed even from the first; 
but they have learnt also to sacrifice to Aphrodite Urania, 
having learnt it from the Assyrians and the Arabians. . . . 

Now this is the manner of sacrifice for the gods afore- Manner of 

s&crinc6 

said which is established among the Persians : — they make 
no altars, neither do they kindle fire; and when they mean 
to sacrifice they use no libation nor music of the pipe nor Herodotus 
chaplets nor meal for sprinkling; but when a man wishes I32 ' 
to sacrifice to any one of the gods, he leads the animal for 
sacrifice to an unpolluted place and calls upon the god, 
having his tiara wreathed round generally with a branch 
of myrtle. For himself alone separately the man w T ho 
sacrifices may not request good things in his prayer but 
he prays that it may be well w T ith all the Persians and with 
the King; for he himself also is included of course in the 
whole body of Persians. And when he has cut up the vic- 
tim into pieces and boiled the flesh, he spreads a layer of 
the freshest grass and especially clover, upon which he 
places forthwith all the pieces of flesh; and when he has 



6o The Median and Persian Empires 



Festal days. 



lb. 133. 



Wine-drink- 
ing. 



Salutations. 



placed them in order, a Magian man stands by them and 
chants over them a theogony (for of this nature they say 
that their incantation is), seeing that without a Magian 
it is not lawful for them to make sacrifices. Then after 
waiting a short time, the sacrificer carries away the flesh 
and uses it for whatever purpose he pleases. 

And of all their days their wont is to honor most that 
on which they were born, each one: on this they think 
it right to set out a feast more liberal than on other days; 
and in tins feast the wealthier of them set upon the table 
an ox or a horse or a camel or an ass, roasted whole in 
an oven, and the poor among them set out small animals 
in the same way. They have few solid dishes, but many 
served up after as dessert, and these not in a single course; 
and for this reason the Persians say that the Hellenes 
leave off dinner hungry, because after dinner they have 
nothing worth mentioning served up as dessert, whereas 
if any good dessert were served up they would not stop 
eating so soon. 

To wine-drinking they are very much given. . . . And 
they are wont to deliberate when drinking hard about 
the most important of their affairs, and whatsoever con- 
clusion has pleased them in their deliberation, this on the 
next day, when they are sober, the master of the house 
in which they happen to be when they deliberate lays 
before them for discussion : and if it pleases them when they 
are sober also, they adopt it, but if it does not please them, 
they let it go: and that on which they have had the first 
deliberation when they are sober, they consider again 
when they are drinking. 

When they meet one another in the roads, by this you 
may discern, whether those who meet are of equal rank, — 
for instead of greeting by words they kiss one another on 



Opinion of Other Nations 61 

the mouth; but if one of them is a little inferior to the other, 
they kiss one another on the cheeks, and if one is of much 
less noble rank than the other, he falls down before him 
and does worship to him. 

And they honor of all most after themselves those na- Their opin- 

J . ion of other 

tions which dwell nearest to them, and next those which nations. 

dwell next nearest, and so they go on giving honor in pro- 
portion to distance; and they hold least in honor those who 
dwell furthest off from themselves, esteeming themselves 
to be by far the best of all the human race in every point, 
and thinking that others possess merit according to the 
proportion which is here stated, and that those who dwell 
furthest from themselves are the worst. And under the 
supremacy of the Medes the various nations used also to 
govern one another according to the same rule as the 
Persians observe in giving honor, the Medes governing 
the whole and in particular those who dwelt nearest to 
themselves, and these having rule over those who bor- 
dered upon them, and those again over the nations that 
were next to them: for the race went forward thus ever 
from government by themselves to government through 
others. 

The Persians more than any other men admit foreign They borrow 
usages; for they both wear the Median dress, judging it to tomsf n 
be more comely than their own, and also for fighting, the 
Egyptian corslet: moreover they adopt all kinds of luxu- ib. i 35 . 
ries when they hear of them. . . . 

It is established as a sign of manly excellence next after Family and 
excellence in fight, to be able to show many sons; and to educatlon - 
those who have the most the king sends gifts every year: lb. 136. 
for they consider number to be a source of strength. And 
they educate their children, beginning at five years old 
and going on till twenty, in three things only, in riding, 



62 The Median and Persian Empires 



Capital pun- 
ishment. 



lb. 137. 



Lying and 
business. 



lb. 138. 



Leprosy. 



shooting, and in speaking the truth; but before the boy is 
five years old he does not come into the presence of his 
father, but lives with the women ; and it is so done for this 
reason, that if the child should die while he is being bred 
up, he may not be the cause of any grief to his father. 
I commend this custom of theirs, and also the one which is 
next to be mentioned, namely that neither the king him- 
self shall put any to death for one cause alone, nor any of 
the other Persians for one cause alone shall do hurt that 
is irremediable to any of his own servants; but if after 
reckoning he find that the wrongs done are more in num- 
ber and greater than the services rendered, then only he 
gives vent to his anger. Moreover they say that no one 
ever killed his own father or mother, but whatever deeds 
have been done which seemed to be of this nature, if ex- 
amined must necessarily, they say, be found to be due 
either to changelings or to children of adulterous birth; 
for, say they, it is not reasonable to suppose that the true 
parent would be killed by his own son. 

Whatever things it is not lawful for them to do, these it 
is not lawful for them even to speak of: and the most 
disgraceful thing in their estimation is to tell a lie, and 
next to this is to owe money, this last for many other 
reasons, but especially because it is necessary, they say, 
for him who owes money, also sometimes to tell lies; and 
whosoever of the men of the city has leprosy or whiteness 
of skin, he does not come into a city nor mingle with the 
other Persians; and they say that he has these diseases 
because he has in some way offended against the Sun: 
but a stranger who is taken by these diseases, in many 
regions they drive out of the country altogether, and also 
white doves, alleging against them the same cause. And 
into a river they neither spit, neither do they wash their 



The Dead 63 

hands in it, nor allow any other to do these things, but 
they reverence rivers very greatly. . . . 

So much am I able to say for certain from my own Treatment 
knowledge about them: but what follows is reported about 
their dead as a secret mystery and not with clearness, lb. 140. 
namely that the body of a Persian man is not buried until 
it has been torn by a bird or a dog. (The Magians I know 
for a certainty have this practice, for they do it openly). 
However that may be, the Persians cover the body with 
wax and then bury it in the earth. Now the Magians are 
distinguished in many ways from other men, as also from 
the priests of Egypt; for these last esteem it a matter of 
purity to kill no living creature except the animals which 
they sacrifice; but the Magians kill with their own hands 
all creatures except dogs and men, and they even make this 
a great end to aim at, killing both ants and serpents and 
all other creeping and flying things. 

V. Treatment of the Dead 

Ahura Mazda answered: "Thirty paces from the fire; The question 
thirty paces from the water; thirty paces from the conse- shall be 
crated bundles of baresma; thirty paces from the faithful: ong 6 ^}^ 

On that place they shall dig a grave, half a foot deep if di . es in 
the earth be hard, half the height of a man if it be soft; a storm? 
they shall cover the surface of it with dust of bricks, or of Avesta. 
stones, or of dry earth. He 5s buried 

And they shall let the lifeless body lie there for two temporarily 

J J 4 in a dwelling, 

nights, or three nights, or a month long, until the birds 

begin to fly, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the 

wind to dry up the waters from off the earth. 

And when the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the 

floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off 

the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall make a 



The dead and 
the living 
must not pass 
the same 
way. 



In practice, 
spots on the 
face of a dog 
were con- 
sidered eyes. 



The Drug 

Nasu was 
a demon rep- 
resenting the 
impurity of 
death. 



64 The Median and Persian Empires 

breach in the wall of the house, and they shall call for two 
men, strong and skilful, and those having stripped their 
clothing off, shall take the body to the building of clay, 
stones, and mortar, raised on a place where they know 
there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating 
birds. . . . 

Can the way whereupon the carcasses of dogs or the 
corpses of men have been carried, be passed through again 
by flocks and herds, by men and women. . . .? 

You shall cause the yellow dog with four eyes or the 
white dog with yellow ears to go three times through that 
way. When either the yellow dog with four ears or the 
white dog with yellow ears is brought there, then the Drug 
Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the shape of a 
raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, all stained with 
stains, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras (servants of 
the Evil One). 

VI. MlTHRA 



Mithra as 
worthy as 
his creator. 

Zarathrustra 
is Zoroaster. 

A vesta. 

He is god of 

truth. 



As god of 
light, Mithra 
sees and hears 
everything. 



Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathrustra, say- 
ing: "Verily when I created Mithra, lord of wide pastures, 
O Spitama, I created him as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy 
prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda. 

The ruffian who lies unto Mithra brings death unto the 
whole country, injuring the faithful world as much as a 
hundred evil-doers could do. Break not the contract, O 
Spitama, neither the one thou hadst entered into with 
one of the unfaithful, nor the one thou hadst entered into 
with one of the faithful who is of thine own faith. For 
Mithra stands for both the faithful and the unfaith- 
ful. . . . 

We sacrifice unto Mithra, lord of wide pastures, who is 
truth-speaking, a chief in assemblies, with a thousand 



Mithra; Healing 65 

ears well-shapen, with ten thousand eyes, high, with full 
knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake. 

To whom the chiefs of nations offer up sacrifices, as 
they go to the field against havocking hosts, against ene- 
mies coming in battle array, in the strife of conflicting 
nations. 

On whichever side he has been worshipped first in the He turns the 

, , ..... , , . , . , scale of bat- 

fulneSS of faith of a devoted heart, to that side turns tie. 

Mithra, lord of wide pastures, with the fiend-smiting wind, 

with the cursing thought of the wise. 

VII. Healing 

One may heal with Holiness, one may heal with the Spiritual as 
Law, one may heal with the knife, one may heal with herbs, j n ai healing. 
one may heal with the Holy Word. Amongst all remedies 
this one is the healing one that heals with the Holy Word; Avesia. 
this one it is that will best drive away sickness from the 
body of the faithful; for this one is the best-healing of all 
remedies. 

STUDIES 

1. Describe the Median kingship. What were the products of the 
country? 

2. What was the extent of the Persian empire? What idea of 
duty to the empire had Darius? Can we find anything similar in the 
case of other Oriental kings? 

3. Give an account of the accession of Darius. 

4. What were the chief features of the religion of the Persians as 
described by Herodotus? What were their customs at meals? How 
did they regard other nations? What does he tell us of their family? 

5. Describe their burial customs and beliefs. 

6. What was the character of Mithra? 

7. What means of healing does the Avesta prescribe. What idea 
of the Persian religion do you derive from these selections from the 
Avesta? 



BOOK II 

Hellas 

CHAPTER VI 

INTRODUCTION TO THE SOURCES 

The main sources for Hellenic history are (i) the liter- The main 
ary works of the Greeks themselves, (2) their inscriptions 
chiefly on stone, (3) letters and other documents on papyri, 
many of which have recently been found in Egypt, (4) 
geography, especially valuable for explaining the elements 
of economic, social, and political life, (5) archaeology, a 
relatively new science, which concerns itself with the 
material works of men's hands during the remote past. 
In Botsford's History of the Ancient World, archaeology 
is represented by the illustrations; the present volume is 
limited to written sources. In the study of the latter Criticism of 
material we must discriminate between (1) contemporary 
sources, composed in the period to which they refer, (2) 
sources later than the period treated. The contemporary 
writer has the advantage of direct acquaintance with the 
condition or event or person he describes. His account 
therefore is always fresher and often more trustworthy 
than any afterward composed. We must keep in mind, 
however, that in many cases a later writer is able to take 
a broader, or more critical, view of a situation, and may 
in that respect be a more valuable authority. In every 
instance it is necessary to study the writer in order to 
determine his worth as a source. 

For the Cretan and Mycenaean civilizations our chief 
67 



68 



Introduction to the Sources 



Sources for 
the earlier 
periods. 



Ancient 
World, 69 fT. 



The Iliad 
and the 
Odyssey. 



Ancient 
World, 83-5. 



Seventh and 
sixth centu- 
ries, B.C. 



materials are archaeological. This source we may supple- 
ment by a study of traditions and of the survival of re- 
ligious, social, and political institutions from that age to 
later time. In such research it is extremely difficult, on 
many points impossible, to determine what has actually 
come down from the period under consideration and what 
was added in later time. 

The epic or Homeric age is represented by the two great 
poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. For the 
poet himself we have mere traditions so uncertain and 
conflicting as to lead many scholars to doubt his existence. 
It seems most probable, however, that Homer was a real 
person who lived in Asia Minor, either at Smyrna or on the 
island of Chios, about 800 B.C. The beautiful art and 
material splendor he describes are in the main a memory 
from the glorious past, whereas the religious, moral, 
social, and political atmosphere of his poems is that of his 
own time and people. Although some scholars are of the 
opinion that his poems were written, it is more probable 
that they were for a time handed down orally from gen- 
eration to generation in schools of minstrels, who found a 
livelihood by chanting them at the courts of nobles and at 
public festivals. 

From the age of Homer no written material, so far as 
we know, came down to later time. About 700 B.C., 
however, some of the more progressive states began to 
keep lists of magistrates, and a little later to reduce their 
laws and treaties to writing. Such material proved use- 
ful to later historians. Poets of the seventh and sixth 
centuries, treating of their own personalities and of their 
surroundings, now wrote out their compositions, which have 
proved of the highest value for the study of those times. 

The earliest of these poets was Hesiod, who lived in 



Greek Poetry 69 

Boeotia about 700 B.C. His Works and Days gives us a Hesiod. 
clearer view of country life than we can find anywhere else Ancient 
in ancient literature. Additional light on rural conditions 
of early Greece is shed by the poems of Solon, the great Solon. 
Athenian lawgiver of about 600 B.C. Both poets tell of 
the peasants' hard lot under the oppressive rule of the 
nobles. The military spirit of the seventh century is well 
represented by Tyrtasus of Sparta and Callinus of Ephesus, Tyrtaeus. 
Ionia. Early in the sixth century lived the two famous Ancient 

World, 119, 

lyric poets of Lesbos, Alcaeus and Sappho. Their poems i 53 . 
afford interesting glimpses of their own character and of Alcaeus and 
the society in which they moved. These names have been 
taken as representative of a far larger group of seventh 
and sixth century poets, whose genius dominated the 
intellectual life of that period and whose extant works, 
though mere fragments, are, apart from a few short in- 
scriptions, the sole contemporary source for that period. 

For the early fifth century we have another great Pindar. 
lyric poet, Pindar, whose best work has survived. Though Ancient 

. . world, 154. 

a native of Bceotia, he represents for all Hellas the spirit 
of the old aristocracy, which was soon to disappear. His 
poems are in honor of victors at the great national games. 
A contemporary of Pindar was iEschylus, the first great -ffischylus. 
Attic dramatist. The characters of Attic tragedy are lb. 213 f. 
generally mythical persons of the distant past, whereas 
the ideas ascribed to them are those of the writer's time. 
Occasionally, however, the poet chooses as his theme a re- 
cent event and introduces historical persons. Such is the 
Persians of iEschylus, which presents in dramatic form 
the invasion of Xerxes and his overthrow at Salamis, 
whereas the Prometheus has to do with mythical charac- 
ters. A warrior in the mighty struggle for the maintenance 
of Hellenic freedom, ^Eschylus chose the divine and the 



7o 



Introduction to the Sources 



Sophocles. 
lb. 214. 



Euripides. 

lb. 241. 



Aristoph- 
anes. 



lb. 



Herodotus, 

about 480- 
425 B.C. 



Ancient 
World, 215. 



The Greek 
word for 
"inquiry" 
is history 
(laropia), 
here for the 
first time ap- 
plied to a de- 
partment of 
literature. 



heroic for his theme. His younger contemporary Sophocles, 
living a comfortable, serene life in the age of Pericles, 
devoted his mind to the ideal human character and to the 
peaceful compromise of warring religious and moral be- 
liefs. Euripides, who wrote in the latter part of the cen- 
tury, in a period of political and intellectual unrest, deals 
with human nature as it is. He is intensely modern, en- 
dowed with a deep knowledge of human character and a 
broad, sympathetic spirit — the Shakespeare of Athens. 
Slightly younger than Euripides was Aristophanes, the 
greatest master of Greek comedy. Deriving his subjects 
from contemporary politics and society, he transfigured them 
with his splendid imagination and his inexhaustible wit. 

Contemporary with Sophocles was the earliest Greek 
historian — Herodotus "the father of history," who wrote 
an account of the great struggle between the Greeks and 
the Persians. In tracing the events which led up to it he 
narrates from the earliest times the history of the various 
nations involved in the conflict. His work, he informs us, 
is a presentation of the results of his own inquiry "to the 
end that neither the deeds of men be forgotten in the lapse 
of time nor oblivion overtake the great and marvelous 
achievements of the Hellenes and the barbarians, particu- 
larly those which brought about the war." As he was 
born in the midst of that war, he had the opportunity 
to learn its history directly from those who had fought 
in it. This portion of his work is therefore more trust- 
worthy than the earlier parts. The chief value of history 
lies in the study of characters of individuals and of na- 
tions; and in the faithful, sympathetic presentation of 
human nature, alike of Greeks and foreigners, Herodotus, 
whether dealing with fact or fiction, is the truest as well 
as the most attractive of historians. 



Thucydides 71 

While Herodotus was putting the last touches to his His- Thucydides, 

about 465 (?)- 

tory, and the Peloponnesian War was in its earliest stage, 400. 
Thucydides in the prime of life was engaged in w r riting an lb. 241 f. 
account of the latter conflict. "Thucydides, an Athen- 
ian," he tells us, "wrote the history of the war in which 
the Peloponnesians and the Athenians fought against 
one another. He began to write when they first took up 
arms, believing that it would be great and memorable 
above any previous war." "Of the events of the war I 
have not ventured to speak from any chance information, 
nor according to any notion of my own; I have described 
nothing but what I either saw myself or learned from others 
of whom I made the most careful and particular inquiry. 
The task was a laborious one because eye-witnesses of the 
same occurrences gave different accounts of them, as they 
remembered or were interested in the actions of one side 
or the other. And very likely the strictly historical char- 
acter of my narrative may be disappointing to the ear. 
But if he who desires to have before his eyes a true picture 
of the events which have happened, and of the like events 
which may be expected to happen hereafter in the order 
of human things, shall pronounce what I have written 
to be useful, then I shall be satisfied. My history is an 
everlasting possession, not a prize composition which is 
heard and forgotten." In contrast with the popular his- 
tory of Herodotus, this work was composed for the general 
and statesman; hence though narrow and special, it is far 
deeper and more philosophic. 

As w r e pass from the fifth to the fourth century — from Fourth Cen- 
Thucydides to Xenophon — we perceive within the his- p hon, about 
torical field a marked decline in style and in intellectual 43 °~ 354 BC 
power. Yet Xenophon, as a soldier of fortune and a man Ancient 

c -J • • • 1 1.1 • t 4-' World, 286 1. 

of wide experience, gives us invaluable information con- 



7 2 



Introduction to the Sources 



The orators : 
Demos- 
thenes, 384- 
322 B.C. 



Ancient 
World, 271 f. 
287 f. 



Philosophy : 
Plato, about 
427-347 B.C. 

lb. 288 f . 



Aristotle, 
384-322 B.C. 



cerning the customs and character of Greeks and foreigners 
of his own age. From this point of view his Anabasis 
will be found especially attractive. His Hellenica narrates 
the political and military events of Greece from 411 to 
362 B.C. It is valuable as our only continuous account 
of that period by a contemporary writer. Among his 
briefer works are the Constitution of the Lacedcemonians 
and the Economist. The former in an idealizing spirit 
refers the origin of the Lacedaemonian institutions to 
Lycurgus; the latter, treating of the management of a 
household, presents a charming picture of private Athenian 
life. 

For the political, economic, and social conditions of 
the fourth century we find the contemporary orators a 
valuable source. We have many of their judicial speeches 
dealing with property, damages, adoptions, and inheri- 
tances as well as with crimes. Others, delivered before 
the popular assembly, have to do with public affairs. The 
career of Demosthenes as a statesman belongs to the lat- 
ter half of the century. His greatness lies not only in the 
perfect mastery of every possible power and resource 
of oratory, but even more in his championship of local 
freedom against encroaching imperialism. 

While the age was one of political decline, the intel- 
lect was coming to maturity in the greatest philosophic 
writers of the ancient world — Plato and Aristotle. Plato, 
gifted with a splendid poetic imagination, was an idealist. 
Though less creative, Aristotle had a genius for system, 
employed in reducing to scientific order the knowledge 
accumulated by the ancients down to his own time. The 
greatest of Plato's works is the Republic; second in im- 
portance among his political writings is the Laws. From 
the works of Aristotle the student of history will prefer 



Polybius; Diodorus 73 

to acquaint himself with the Politics, a masterpiece of 
political science, and the Constitution of the Athenians , 
the manuscript of which, written on a papyrus, was dis- 
covered in Egypt in 1890. With Demosthenes and Aris- 
totle the classical age of Greek literature comes to an end. 

In the historical field by far the most eminent post- Later his- 
classical writer was Polybius. He lived during the Roman iusT'abouf ~ 
conquest of Greece, and therefore saw not only his na- 2IO_I2 ° Bc - 
tion's political enslavement but the establishment of Rome 
as the only great power in the world. His work is a history 
of Roman expansion in the Mediterranean basin; only 
by way of introduction or incidental reference does he 
touch on earlier time. The experiences of mankind since 
the days of Thucydides gave him a broader view of history 
and politics. Most of the material for his work he ob- 
tained from documents, from personal observation of the 
topography and resources of the countries treated, and 
from men who had taken part in the events which he nar- 
rates. His interest centres in the motives, causes, and 
effects of actions. A careful reading of this author is the 
best possible introduction to the spirit and method of 
history as we of to-day regard it. 

To the age of Caesar belongs another Greek historian, Diodorus, 
Diodorus the Sicilian, a writer incomparably inferior to ter°2i B.c. a 
Polybius in ability. His vast Historical Library narrates 
the events of the civilized world from the earliest times to 
Caesar's invasion of Britain (54 B.C.). The author shows 
no judgment in selecting his material or in putting it to- 
gether; hence the different parts of his work are of unequal 
merit. He had no conception of the unity of history, and 
this fault, together with his arrangement of events by 
years, prevented him from tracing the causes, connections 
and effects of events, — from being a good historian. His 



74 



Introduction to the Sources 



Nepos, 

about 99-24 
B.C. 



Pompeius, 
Trogus. 



Strabo. 

His work was 
composed un- 
der Augustus 
and revised 
under Tiber- 
ius. 



Plutarch, 

about 50-125 
A.D. 



descriptions of countries and nations, however, are ex- 
cellent; and in spite of all defects, his work is indispensable, 
as it is our main source for long periods of ancient history. 
Of the forty books, we have the first five, the eleventh 
to the twentieth, and fragments of the other parts. 

In this age Romans were interesting themselves in 
writing about Greek men and affairs. Nepos composed 
biographies, among which we still have the lives of several 
famous Greek generals; they show him to have been an 
inferior and untrustworthy writer. In the age of Augustus 
Pompeius Trogus, a Roman of Gallic birth, wrote in Latin 
a history of the world down to his own time. Undoubtedly 
it was more meritorious than the history of Diodorus, 
though we know it only through a poor abridgment of 
the second century A.D. by Justin. 

Nearly contemporary with Trogus was Strabo, the 
geographer. After travelling through many countries 
and learning much from earlier writers, he composed a 
description of the known world in seventeen books. He 
gives useful historical information also regarding many of 
the places which he mentions. Though he wrote in Greek 
and had Greek blood in his veins, he was a native of Pontus 
in Asia Minor, and probably composed his work for the 
reigning queen of that country. 

The most famous Greek writer of the Christian era was 
Plutarch, the biographer. He was a philosopher and a 
man of sincere religious convictions, high moral purpose, 
and lovable character. His parallel Lives of Greeks and 
Romans has probably been read by more persons than any 
other book by a single author. Although the writer lacks 
historical training and critical judgment, his biographies 
are among the most instructive sources for the persons 
and events of which they treat. 



Authors and Documents 



75 



It will suffice to mention three other late Greek writers 
with the principal work of each. Arrian of Nicomedia 
wrote the Anabasis of Alexander, a military narrative 
drawn from sources contemporary with the great conqueror. 
At nearly the same time Pausanias composed his Guide to 
Greece, which treats of the archaeology, myths, and to some 
extent the history of that country. Sometime afterward 
Diogenes Laertius wrote his Lives of the Philosophers, an 
inaccurate work though full of useful information. The 
Greek authors who treat mainly of Roman affairs will 
be mentioned in a later chapter. 



Later Greek 

writers. 

Arrian, about 
95-175- 

Pausanias, 
d. about 175. 



Diogenes 
Laertius, 
early third 
century 
A.D. 

Ch. xxvu. 



AUTHORS AND DOCUMENTS 

.'Eschylus, translated by A. S. Way. Macmillan. 

Alcaeus, translated by Easby-Smith. Washington : Lowdermilk. 

Aristophanes, edited and translated by B. B. Rogers. Macmillan. 

, Select Comedies, translated by J. H. Frere. Morley's Library. 

Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, translated by the editors. 

, Politics, translated by Jowett. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, translated by E. J. Chinnock. Mac- 
millan. 

Callinus, translated by the editors. 

Demosthenes, translated by C. R. Kennedy. Macmillan. 

Diodorus the Sicilian, Historical Library, translated by Booth (1814). 
Revised by the editors. 

Diogenes Laertius, translated by C. D. Yonge. Macmillan. 

Euripides, translated by E. P. Coleridge. Macmillan. 

Herodotus, translated by G. C. Macaulay. Macmillan. Revised by 
the editors. 

Hesiod, Works and Days, translated by A. W. Mair. Oxford: Claren- 
don Press. 

Homer, Iliad, translated by A. Lang, W. Leaf, and E. Myers. Mac- 
millan. 

, Odyssey, translated by S. H. Butcher and A. Lang. Mac- 
millan. 

Inscriptions, Greek, translated by the editors. 



76 Introduction to the Sources 

Justin, translated by J. S. Watson. Macmillan. 

Nepos, translated by J. S. Watson (in the same volume with Justin). 

Papyri. Selections from the Greek Papyri, edited with translations by 
G. Milligan. Cambridge: University Press. 

Papyri, translated by the editors, unless otherwise stated. 

Pausanias, translated by J. G. Frazer. 6 vols. Macmillan. 

Pindar, translated by E. Myers. Macmillan. 

Plato, translated by B. Jowett. Macmillan. 

Plutarch, Lives, translated by A. Stewart and G. Long. Mac- 
millan. 

Polybius, translated by E. S. Shuckburgh. Macmillan. 

Sappho, selected translations, edited by Wharton. Chicago : McClurg. 

, new fragments, translated by J. M. Edmonds. Classical Review, 

xxiii (1910). 99-104. 

Sophocles, translated by R. C. Jebb. Cambridge: University Press. 

Strabo, translated by H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer. Mac- 
millan. 

Thucydides, translated by B. Jowett. Lothrop. 

Tyrtaeus, translated by the editors. 

Xenophon, translated by H. G. Dakyns. Macmillan. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE CRETAN AND MYCEMEAN CIVILIZATIONS 

I. Race: The Carians 

The Carians came to the mainland from the islands; Subjects of 
for being of old time subjects of Minos and being called 
Leleges, they used to dwell in the islands, paying no tribute, I7 e x r ° otus L 
so far back as I am able to arrive by hearsay; but whenever ^ nc ^ ent 
Minos required it, they used to supply his ships with sea- World, 94. 
men : and as Minos subdued much land and was fortunate 
in his fighting, the Carian nation was of all nations much 
the most famous at that time together with him. And 
they produced three inventions of which the Hellenes 
adopted the use; that is to say, the Carians were those 
who first set the fashion of fastening crests on helmets, 
and of making the devices which are put upon shields, 
and these also were the first who made handles for their 
shields, whereas up to that time all who were went to 
use shields carried them without handles and with leath- 
ern straps to guide them, having them hung about their 
necks and their left shoulders. Then after the lapse of a 
long time the Dorians and Ionians drove the Carians out 
of the islands, and so they came to the mainland. 



II. Minos 



His king- 



They say that many generations after the birth of the JJJm; bis 

gods many heroes arose in Crete, the most illustrious of legislation 
J . and naval 

whom were Minos and Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, power. 

77 



Diodorus 
78. 



Results of 
his naval 
supremacy. 



Thucydides 
i. 8. 



78 The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

who they say were the sons of Zeus and Agenor's sister 
Europa. She, the story goes, had by a device of the gods 
been carried off on a bull's back to Crete. Minos as the 
eldest was king of the island, in which he planted no few 
cities, the most famous among them being Cnossus in the 
part which inclines toward Asia, Phaestus on the southern 
coast, and Cydonia in the western regions opposite Pelo- 
ponnesus. He enacted for the Cretans many laws, pre- 
tending to receive them from his father Zeus and to hold 
converse with him in a certain cave. It is said, too, that 
he acquired a great naval power, conquered most of the 
islands and was the first Greek to establish an empire 
at sea. After winning great repute for bravery and jus- 
tice, he ended his life in Sicily in an expedition against 
Cocalus. 

After Minos had established a navy, communication by 
sea became more general. For after he had expelled the 
pirates, when he colonized the greater part of the islands, 
the dwellers on the sea-coast began to grow richer and to 
live in a more settled manner; and some of them, finding 
their wealth increase beyond their expectations, sur- 
rounded their towns with walls. The love of gain made the 
weaker willing to serve the stronger, and the command of 
wealth enabled the more powerful to subjugate the lesser 
cities. This was the state of society which was beginning 
to prevail at the time of the Trojan War. 



The primi- 
tive Greeks. 

Thucydides 
i. 2. 

Ancient 
World, 73 f. 



III. Greek Migrations 

The country which is now called Hellas was not regu- 
larly settled in ancient times. The people were migratory, 
and readily left their homes when they were overpowered 
by numbers. There was no commerce, and they could 
not safely hold intercourse with one another by land or 



Hellenic Migrations 79 

sea. The several tribes cultivated their own soil just 
enough to obtain a living from it. But they had no ac- 
cumulation of wealth, and did not plant the ground; for 
being without walls, they were never sure that an invader 
might not come and despoil them. Living in this manner 
and knowing that they could anywhere obtain a bare 
subsistence, they were always ready to migrate; so that 
they had neither great cities nor any considerable re- 
sources. 

The richest districts were most constantly changing The effect of 

J . increasing 

their inhabitants; for example, the countries which are wealth. 

now called Thessaly and Bceotia, the greater part of the 
Peloponnesus with the exception of Arcadia, and all the 
best districts of Hellas. For the productiveness of the 
land increased the power of individuals; this in turn was 
a source of quarrels by which communities were ruined, 
while at the same time they were exposed to attacks from 
without. Certainly Attica, of which the soil was poor and 
thin, enjoyed a long freedom from civil strife, and there- 
fore retained its original inhabitants. And a striking 
confirmation of my argument is afforded by the fact that 
Attica through immigration increased in population more 
than any other region. For the leading men of Hellas, 
when driven out of their own country by war or revolution, 
sought an asylum in Athens; and from the very earliest 
times, being admitted to the rights of citizenship, so 
greatly increased the number of inhabitants that Attica 
became incapable of containing them, and was at last 
obliged to send out colonies to Ionia. 

STUDIES 

1. What were the relations of the Carians to Minos? How did 
they serve him? What inventions are ascribed to them? 



8o The Cretan and Mycenaean Civilizations 

2. What achievements of Minos are here mentioned? Does he 
seem a myth or a real king? What economic effect had his naval 
supremacy? 

3 . Describe the primitive condition of the Hellenes. Why were they 
at first migratory? Why were the richest districts most unsettled? 
Which were the richest countries? What was the condition of Attica 
and its inhabitants? What policy did the early Athenians adopt 
with reference to immigrants? Who wrote these selections, and 
from what source did they obtain their information? What, there- 
fore, is the value of their statements? 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE EPIC OR HOMERIC AGE 
I. The Shield of Achilles 

Achilles, son of the goddess Thetis, was the most valiant of all the 
heroes who took part in the Trojan War; Ancient World, 95 f. After 
he had quarrelled with Agamemnon, leader of the expedition, and had 
become reconciled, Hephaestus, the artisan god, forged for him a 
splendid suit of armor. The following passage tells how Hephaestus 
made and decorated the shield. The chief value of the extract lies, 
not only in the artist's work known to Homer, but even more in the 
pictures of life which covered the shield — the marriage festival, the 
trial, the siege and ambush, plowing, reaping, the vintage, the 
herdsmen protecting their flocks from lions, the youths and maidens 
dancing. Homer, Iliad, xviii. 478-607. 

First fashioned he a shield great and strong, adorning Hephaestus 
it all over, and set thereto a shining rim, triple, bright- shield, 
glancing, and therefrom a silver baldrick. Five were the mad xviii 
folds of the shield itself; and therein fashioned he much 478 ff. 
cunning work from his wise heart. . . . 

a. Also he fashioned therein two fair cities of mortal Marriage, 
men. In the one were espousals and marriage feasts, and Homeric age; 
beneath the blaze of torches they were leading the brides Ancient°~ 
from their chambers through the city, and loud arose the World > 8 ^s- 
bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, 
and among them flutes and viols sounded high; and the 
women standing each at her door were marvelling. But A trial, 
the folk were gathered in the assembly place; for there 
a strife was arisen, two men striving about the blood-price 
of a man slain; the one claimed to pay full atonement, 

81 



82 



The Epic or Homeric Age 



The talent 
here men- 
tioned was a 
small weight. 

A siege. 



An ambush. 



expounding to the people, but the other denied him and 
would take naught; and both were fain to receive judgment 
at the hands of an arbiter. And the folk were cheering 
both, as they took part on either side. And heralds kept 
order among the folk, while the elders on polished stones 
were sitting in the sacred circle, and holding in their hands 
staves from the loud-voiced heralds. Then before the 
people they rose up and gave judgment each in turn. And 
in the midst lay two talents of gold, to be given unto him 
who should plead among them most righteously. 

But around the other city were two armies in siege 
with glittering arms. And two counsels found favor among 
them, either to sack the town or to share all with the towns- 
folk even whatsoever substance the fair city held within. 
But the besieged were not yet yielding, but arming for 
an ambushment. On the wall there stood to guard it their 
dear wives and infant children, and with these the old 
men; but the rest went forth, and their leaders were Ares 
and Pallas Athena, both wrought in gold, and golden was 
the vesture they had on. Goodly and great were they 
in their armor, even as gods, far seen around, and the folk 
at their feet were smaller. 

And when they came where it seemed good to them to 
lay ambush, in a river bed where there was a common 
watering-place of herds, there they set them, clad in glit- 
tering bronze. And two scouts were posted by them afar 
off to spy the coming of flocks and of oxen with crooked 
horns. And presently came the cattle, and with them 
two herdsmen playing on pipes, that took no thought of 
the guile. Then the others when they beheld these ran 
upon them and quickly cut off the herds of oxen and fair 
flocks of white sheep, and slew the shepherds withal. But 
the besiegers as they sat before the speech-places and heard 



Rural Life 83 

much din among the oxen, mounted forthwith behind 
their high-stepping horses, and came up with speed. Then 
they arrayed their battle and fought beside the river banks, 
and smote one another with bronze-shod spears. And 
among them mingled Strife and Tumult, and fell Death, 
grasping one man alive fresh-wounded, another without 
wound, and dragging another dead through the mellay 
by the feet; and the raiment on her shoulders was red 
with the blood of men. Like living mortals they hurled 
together and fought, and haled the corpses each of the 
other's slain. 

b. Furthermore he set in the shield a soft fresh-plowed Plowing, 
field, rich tilth and wide, the third time plowed; and 
many plowers therein drave their yokes to and fro as they 
wheeled about. Whensoever they came to the bound- 
ary of the field and turned, then would a man come to each 
and give into his hands a goblet of sweet wine, while 
others would be turning back along the furrows, fain to 
reach the boundary of the deep tilth. And the field grew 
black behind and seemed as it were a-plowing, albeit of 
gold, for this was the great marvel of the work. 

Furthermore he set therein the domain-land of a king, Reaping, 
where hinds were reaping with sharp sickles in their hands. 
Some armfuls along the swathe were falling in rows to 
the earth, whilst others the sheaf-binders were binding 
in twisted bands of straw. Three sheaf-binders stood over 
them, while behind boys gathering corn and bearing it 
in their arms gave it constantly to the binders; and among 
them the king in silence was standing at the swathe with 
his staff, rejoicing in his heart. And henchmen apart 
beneath an oak were making ready a feast, and prepar- 
ing a great ox they had sacrificed; while the women were 
strewing much white barley to be a supper for the hinds. 



84 



The Epic or Homeric Age 



Vintage. Also he set therein a vineyard teeming plenteously 

with clusters, wrought fair in gold; black were the grapes, 
but the vines hung throughout on silver poles. And 
around it he ran a ditch of cyanus, and round that a fence 
of tin; and one single pathway led to it, whereby the 
vintagers might go when they should gather the vintage. 
And maidens and striplings in childish glee bare the sweet 
fruit in plaited baskets. And in the midst of them a boy 
made pleasant music on a clear-toned viol, and sang thereto 
a sweet Linos-song with delicate voice; while the rest with 
feet falling together kept time with the music and song. 

Grazing. c. Also he wrought therein a herd of kine with upright 

horns, and the kine were fashioned of gold and tin, and 
with lowing they hurried from the yard to pasture beside 
a murmuring river, beside the waving reed. And herds- 
men of gold were following with the kine, four of them, 
and nine dogs fleet of foot came after them. But two 
terrible lions among the foremost kine had seized a loud- 
roaring bull that bellowed mightily as they haled him, and 
the dogs and the young men sped after him. The lions 
rending the great bull's hide were devouring his vitals 
and his black blood; while the herdsmen in vain tarred 
on their fleet dogs to set them on, for they shrank from 
biting the lions but stood hard by and barked and swerved 
away. 

Also the glorious lame god wrought therein a pasture 
in a fair glen, a great pasture of white sheep, and a stead- 
ing, and roofed huts, and folds. 

Dancing. Also did the glorious lame god devise a dancing-place 

like unto that which once in wide Cnossus Daidalus 
wrought for Ariadne of the lovely tresses. There were 
youths dancing and maidens of costly wooing, their hands 
upon one another's wrists. Fine linen the maidens had 



A Palace 85 

on, and the youths well-woven doublets faintly glistening 
with oil. Fair wreaths had the maidens, and the youths 
daggers of gold hanging from silver baldrics. And now 
would they run round with deft feet exceeding lightly, 
as when a potter sitting by his wheel that fitteth between 
his hands maketh trial of it whether it run: and now anon 
they would run in lines to meet each other. And a great 
company stood round the lovely dance in joy; and among 
them a divine minstrel was making music on his lyre, and 
through the midst of them, leading the measure, two tum- 
blers whirled. 

II. The Palace of Alcinous 

The hero Odysseus, returning home from Troy, after its capture and 
destruction, wandered far and wide, driven about by the sea-god 
Poseidon, who was angry with him; Ancient World, 96. In these 
travels he was ship-wrecked upon the island of the Phaeacians. 
Received hospitably by Nausicaa, a princess of these people, he came 
to the palace of her father, King Alcinous. Especially interesting is 
the description of the palace and its inmates and of the garden in the 
great front court. Homer, Odyssey, vii. 81-132. 

Meanwhile Odysseus went to the famous palace of interior 
Alcinous, and his heart was full of many thoughts as he 
stood there or ever he had reached the threshold of bronze, gf^ ' vu ' 
For there was a gleam as it were of sun and moon through 
the high-roofed hall of great-hearted Alcinous. Brazen Greece, 5-7. 
were the walls that ran this way and that from the thresh- 
old to the inmost chamber, and round them was a frieze 
of blue, and golden were the doors that closed in the good 
house. Silver were the door-posts that were set on the 
brazen threshold, and silver the lintel thereupon, and the 
hook of the door was of gold. And on either side stood 
golden hounds and silver, which Hephaestus wrought with 



86 



The Epic or Homeric Age 



The chief 
tains. 



The maid 
servants. 



The 
yard. 



his cunning, to guard the palace of great-hearted Alcinous, 
being free from death and age all their days. 

And within were seats arrayed against the wall this way 
and that, from the threshold to the inmost chamber, and 
thereon were spread light coverings finely woven, the hand- 
iwork of women. There the Phaeacian chieftains were wont 
to sit eating and drinking, for they had continual store. 
Yea, and there were youths fashioned in gold, standing 
on firm-set bases, with flaming torches in their hands, 
giving light through the night to the feasters in the palace. 
And he had fifty handmaids in the house, and some grind 
the yellow grain on the millstone, and others weave webs 
and turn the yarn as they sit, restless as the leaves of the 
tall poplar tree; and the soft olive oil drops off that linen, 
so closely is it woven. For as the Phaeacian men are skilled 
beyond all others in driving a swift ship upon the deep, 
even so are the women the most cunning at the loom, 
for Athena hath given them notable wisdom in all fair 
handiwork and cunning wit. 
court- And without the courtyard, hard by the door, is a great 
garden, of four plowgates, and a hedge runs round on 
either side. And there grow tall trees blossoming, pear 
trees and pomegranates, and apple trees with bright fruit, 
and sweet figs and olives in their bloom. The fruit of 
these trees never perisheth, neither faileth, winter or sum- 
mer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West 
Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and ripens others. 
Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple upon apple, yea, 
and cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape and fig upon 
fig. There, too, hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof 
the one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on 
level ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and 
yet others they are treading in the wine-press. In the fore- 



Studies 87 

most row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others 
there be that are growing black to vintaging. There, 
too, skirting the furthest line, are all manner of garden 
beds, planted trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and 
therein are two fountains of water, whereof one scatters 
his streams all about the garden, and the other runs over 
against it beneath the threshold of the courtyard, and is- 
sues by the lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk 
draw water. These were the splendid gifts of the gods 
in the palace of Alcinous. 

STUDIES 

1. a. What features of the marriage are here mentioned? Over 
what was the trial? Who were the judges, and what part had the 
people? What function did the heralds perform? Describe the siege. 
What alternative plans had the besiegers in mind? What part did 
the gods take in the conflict? b. Describe the plowing scene; the 
reaping; the vintage; the preparation of food for the laborers, c. What 
do you infer from the presence of lions as to the condition of the 
country? What skilled industry is mentioned? Enumerate all the 
occupations pictured on the "Shield." What do you infer from this 
list as to the civilization of the country? Name all the metals used in 
composing the "Shield." 

2. What features of the palace seem to be Mycenaean? Who 
were its occupants? Describe the work of the maidservants. 
Where was the garden, and what were its fruits? How was it 
watered? Combining these selections from Homer with pages 83-5 
of the Ancient World, write as full an account as possible of Homeric 
life. 



CHAPTER IX 



MYTH AND RELIGION 



Aphrodite. 
Diodorus v. 
73-5- 
A ncient 
World, 86 ff. 

The Graces. 



Athena. 



The Muses. 



Hephaestus. 



I. The Gods 

To Aphrodite he (Zeus) committed the care of the 
mature age of girls; at which time they ought to marry, 
and the oversight of other things used at nuptials. 

To the Graces was granted power to beautify the face, 
and to give a comely shape and proportion to all the mem- 
bers of the body, . . . and to cause the persons to be 
grateful and thankful for what they received. . . . 

To Athena he committed the care of olive yards, and 
the planting of olive trees, and the extraction of the oil: 
for before the birth of this goddess, this tree grew wild, 
disregarded among the trees of the wood, the use and 
culture of it, as is now practiced, not then being known. 

The making of garments likewise and architecture and 
many other arts were revealed to men by this goddess. 
She invented pipes and wind-music and many ingenious 
tools and instruments for handicrafts; whence she was 
called Ergane. 

To the Muses their father allotted the invention of 
letters and the composing of verses, called poetry. . . . 

Hephaestus, they say, found out the working of iron, 
brass, silver, and gold, and all other metals that require 
forging by fire: and that the general use of fire in all other 
cases, was found out by him, and discovered not only to 
artificers, but to all other men; and therefore all the 
masters of these arts pay their devotions, and offer their 

88 



The Gods 89 

sacrifices chiefly to this god; both they and all others call 
fire Hephaestus, to the end that this great good bestowed 
upon mankind might be forever remembered, to his eternal 
honor and praise. 

Ares, they say, first taught the making of all sorts of Ares, 
weapons, and how to furnish soldiers both with offensive 
and defensive arms, and to fight with courage and reso- 
lution, destroying them all that were enemies to the gods. 

To Apollo is attributed the invention of the harp, and Apollo, 
that sort of music; and it is said, he discovered the art of 
medicine, which is practiced by revelation from him, by 
which the sick were commonly restored to health: he found 
out likewise the use of the bow, and taught the inhabi- 
tants to shoot; and therefore the Cretans delight much in 
shooting, and call the bow Scythicus. 

To Hermes they attribute the invention of messages Hermes, 
in times of war by trumpets and heralds, of truces and 
leagues; and as a sign they were sent to treat with the 
enemy they carried a rod before them; and therefore were 
suffered safely to come and go. Hence they were called 
the common Hermes, because both sides in the war 
enjoyed the common benefit of peace. 

They say, he was the first that invented weights and 
measures, and the acquisition of wealth by merchandise, 
and the way of cheating and cozening of others. He was 
accounted the herald of the gods, and the best messenger, 
because he was quick and ingenious in declaring particu- 
larly everything he had in command. Whence he was 
called Hermes. 

II. Odysseus Visits the Realm of Hades 

In his wanderings Odysseus sailed into Oceanus, the stream that 
girdles the earth. On its farther side he landed on fche shore of Erebus, 



go 



Myth and Religion 



the country over which Hades rules. He himself tells how he com- 
municated with certain spirits of the dead. From the passage we 
learn the view of the future life held by the Greeks of Homer's time. 
Homer, Odyssey, xi. 34-223. 



Odysseus 
prepares to 
speak with 
the spirits of 
the dead. 



Odyssey xi. 
34 ff. 



Persephone, 
wife of Hades. 



Elpenor. 



Left un- 
buried. 



a. But when I had besought the tribes of the dead 
with vows and prayers, I took the sheep and cut their 
throats over the trench, and the dark blood flowed forth, 
and lo, the spirits of the dead that be departed gathered 
them from out of Erebus. Brides and youths unwed, 
and old men of many and evil days, and tender maidens 
with grief yet fresh at heart; and many there were, 
wounded with bronze-shod spears, men slain in fight with 
their bloody mail about them. And these many ghosts 
flocked together from every side of the trench with a 
wondrous cry, and pale fear gat hold on me. Then did I 
speak to my company and command them to flay the sheep 
that lay slain by the pitiless sword, and to consume them 
with fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades 
and to dread Persephone, and I myself drew the sharp 
sword from my thigh and sat there, suffering not the 
strengthless heads of the dead to draw nigh to the blood, 
ere I had word of Teiresias. 

And first came the soul of Elpenor my companion, that 
had not yet been buried beneath the wide-wayed earth; 
for we left the corpse behind us in the hall of Circe, un- 
wept and unburied, seeing that another task was instant 
upon us. At the sight of him I wept and had compassion 
on him, and uttering my voice spake to him winged words: 
" Elpenor, how hast thou come beneath the darkness and 
the shadow? Thou hast come fleeter on foot than I in 
my black ship." 

So spake I, and with a moan he answered me, saying: 
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many 



A Spirit of One Unburied 91 

devices, an evil doom of some god was my bane and wine 
out of measure. When I laid me down on the housetop 
of Circe, I minded me not to descend again by the way 
of the tall ladder, but fell right down from the roof, and 
my neck was broken off from the bones of my spine, and 
my spirit went down to the house of Hades. And now I 
pray thee in the name of those whom we left, who are 
no more with us, thy w r ife, and thy sire who cherished thee 
when as yet thou wert a little one, and Telemachus, whom 
thou didst leave in thy halls alone; forasmuch as I know 
that on thy way hence from out the dwelling of Hades, 
thou wilt stay thy well-wrought ship at the isle of iEaean, 
even then, my lord, I charge thee to think on me. Leave 
me not unwept and unburied as thou goest hence, nor turn 
thy back upon me, lest haply I bring upon thee the anger 
of the gods. Nay, burn me with mine armor, all that is 
mine, and pile me a barrow on the shore of the grey sea, 
the grave of a luckless man, that even men unborn may 
hear my story. Fulfil me this and plant upon the barrow 
mine oar, wherewith I rowed in the days of my life, w T hile 
I was yet among my fellows." 

Even so he spake, and I answered him saying: "All 
this, luckless man, will I perform for thee and do." 

Even so we twain were sitting holding sad discourse, 
I on the one side, stretching forth my sword over the blood, 
while on the other side the ghost of my friend told all his 
tale. 

b. Anon came up the soul of my mother dead, Anticleia, Anticleia, 
the daughter of Autolycus, the great-hearted, whom I left Odysseus, 
alive when I departed for sacred Ilios. At the sight of 
her I wept and was moved with compassion, yet even eo, 
for all my sore grief, I suffered her not to draw nigh to the 
blood, ere I had word of Teiresias. ... 



92 Myth and Religion 

So spake I, and anon he answered me and said: "I will 
tell thee an easy saying, and will put it in thy heart. Whom- 
soever of the dead that be departed thou shalt suffer to 
draw nigh to the blood, he shall tell thee sooth; but if thou 
shalt grudge any, that one shall go to his own place again." 
Therewith the spirit of the prince Teiresias went back 
within the house of Hades, when he had told all his oracles. 
But I abode there steadfastly, till my mother drew nigh 
and drank the dark blood; and at once she knew me, and 
bewailing herself spake to me winged words: 

"Dear child, how didst thou come beneath the dark- 
ness and the shadow, thou that art a living man? Griev- 
ous is the sight of these things to the living, for between 
us and you are great rivers and dreadful streams; first, 
Oceanus, which can no wise be crossed on foot, but only 
if one have a well-wrought ship. Art thou but now come 
hither with thy ship and thy company in thy long wander- 
ings from Troy? and hast thou not yet reached Ithaca, 
nor seen thy wife in thy halls?" 

Why Odys- Even so she spake, and I answered her, and said: "O 

seuscameto . 111 

the realm of my mother, necessity was on me to come down to the house 

of Hades to seek the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not 
yet have I drawn near to the Achaean shore, nor yet have 
I set foot on mine own country, but have been wandering 
evermore in affliction, from the day that first I went with 
goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the fair steeds, to do bat- 
tle with the Trojans. But come, declare me this and plainly 
tell it all. What doom overcame thee of death that lays 
men at their length? Was it a slow disease, or did Artemis 
the archer slay thee with the visitation of her gentle shafts? 
And tell me of my father and my son, that I left behind me ; 
doth my honor yet abide with them, or hath another al- 
ready taken it while they say that I shall come home no 



Hades. 



Mother of Odysseus 93 

more? And tell me of my wedded wife, of her counsel 
and her purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all 
secure, or hath she already wedded the best of the Achae- 
ans?" 

Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered His family 
me: "Yea verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit in thy 
halls; and wearily for her the nights wane always and the 
days in shedding of tears. But the fair honor that is thine 
no man hath yet taken; but Telemachus sits at peace on 
his domain, and feasts at equal banquets, whereof it is 
meet that a judge partake, for all men bid him to their 
house. And thy father abides there in the field, and goes 
not down to the town, nor lies he on bedding or rugs or 
shining blankets, but all the winter he sleeps, where sleep 
the thralls in the house, in the ashes by the fire, and is 
clad in sorry raiment. But when the summer comes and 
the rich harvest-tide, his beds of fallen leaves are strewn 
lowly all about the knoll of his vineyard plot. There he 
lies sorrowing and nurses his mighty grief, for long desire 
of thy return, and old age withal comes heavy upon him. 
Yea and even so did I too perish and meet my doom. It 
was not the archer goddess of the keen sight, who slew 
me in my halls with the visitation of her gentle shafts, 
nor did any sickness come upon me, such as chiefly with 
a sad wasting draws the spirit from the limbs; nay, it 
was my sore longing for thee, and for thy counsels, great 
Odysseus, and for thy loving-kindness, that reft me of 
sweet life." 

So spake she, and I mused in my heart and would fain Parting with 
have embraced the spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I 
sprang toward her, and was minded to embrace her; 
thrice she flitted from my hands as a shadow or even 
as a dream, and grief waxed ever the sharper at my 



94 



Myth and Religion 



The Treas- 
ure-Houses. 

Strabo ix. 3. 



It is to be 
noticed that 
Strabo com- 
pleted his 
work about 
18 A.D. He 
is therefore 
speaking of a 
time centuries 
before his 
own. 

The Oracle. 

lb. 5. 



heart. And uttering my voice I spake to her winged 
words: 

"Mother mine, wherefore dost thou not abide me who 
am eager to clasp thee, that even in Hades we twain may 
cast our arms each about the other, and have our fill of 
chill lament? Is this but a phantom that the high goddess 
Persephone hath sent me, to the end that I may groan 
for more exceeding sorrow?" 

So spake I, and my lady mother answered me anon: 
"Ah me, my child, of all men most ill-fated, Persephone, 
the daughter of Zeus, doth in no wise deceive thee, but 
even on this wise it is with mortals when they die. For 
the sinews no more bind together the flesh and the bones, 
but the great force of burning fire abolishes these, so soon 
as the life hath left the white bones, and the spirit like a 
dream flies forth and hovers near. But haste with all 
thine heart toward the sunlight and mark all this, that 
even hereafter thou mayest tell it to thy wife." 

III. The Temple or Apollo at Delphi and the 
Amphictyony 

The temple of Apollo is now much neglected, although 
formerly it was held in the greatest reverence. Proofs 
of the respect which were paid to it are the treasures, 
built at the expense of communities and princes, where 
was deposited the wealth dedicated to sacred uses, the 
works of the most eminent artists, the Pythian games, 
and a vast number of recorded oracles. 

The place where the oracle is delivered is said to be a 
deep hollow cavern, the entrance to which is not very wide. 
From it rises up an exhalation which inspires a divine 
frenzy: over the mouth is placed a lofty tripod on which 
the Pythian priestess ascends to receive the exhalation, 



The Delphic Amphictyony 95 

alter which she gives the prophetic response in verse or 
prose. The prose is adapted to metre by poets who are 
in the service of the temple. . . . 

Although the highest honor was paid to this temple on lb. 6. 
account of this oracle, as the freest of all from deception, 
yet its reputation was owing in part to its situation in the 
centre of all Greece, both within and without the Isth- 
mus. It was also supposed to be the centre of the habitable 
earth. . . . 

As the situation of Delphi is convenient, persons easily The Am- 
assembled there, particularly those from the neighbor- 
hood, of whom the Amphictyonic body is composed. It lb. 7. 
is the business of this body to deliberate on public affairs, 
and to it is more particularly intrusted the guardianship 
of the temple for the common good; for large sums of 
money were deposited there, and votive offerings, which 
required great vigilance and religious care. The early 
history of this body is unknown, but among the names 
which are recorded, Acrisius appears to have been the first 
who regulated its constitution, to have determined what 
cities were to have votes in the council, and to have as- 
signed the number of votes and mode of voting. To some 
cities he gave a single vote each, or a vote to two cities, 
or to several cities conjointly. He also defined the class 
of questions which might arise between the different cities, 
which were to be submitted to the decision of the Am- 
phictyonic tribunal; and subsequently many other regu- 
lations were made, but this federation like that of the 
Achaeans, was finally dissolved. 

At first twelve cities are said to have assembled, each of Time and 
... . iii. place of as- 

wnicn sent a rylagoras. Ihe convention was held twice a sembiy. 

year, in spring and autumn. But latterly a greater number 

of cities assembled. They called both the vernal and the 



g6 Myth and Religion 

autumnal convention Pylaean, because it was held at Pylae, 
which has the name also of Thermopylae. The Pylagorae 
sacrificed to Demeter. In the beginning, only the persons 
in the neighborhood assembled, or consulted the oracle, 
but afterwards people repaired thither from a distance 
for this purpose, sent gifts, and constructed treasuries, 
as Croesus, and his father Alyattes, some of the Italians 
also, and the Sicilians. 

STUDIES 

i. Enumerate the deities mentioned in this selection, with the 
functions of each. What are the Roman equivalents? What must 
have been the mental condition of men which created these ideas of 
the gods? 

2. a. What classes of people did Odysseus find in the home of the 
dead? What means had he of restoring their spirits to consciousness? 
What was the normal state of their minds? What was the peculiar 
condition of Elpenor? What was necessary to give his spirit peace? 
b. What information did Odysseus' mother give him concerning 
his family at home? Did the dead, then, know what was going on in 
this world? What was the condition of his family? How, as his 
mother explains, does the spirit separate itself from the body? 

3. What were the Delphic treasure-houses? By what means did 
Apollo give his oracles? Why did this oracle become the most im- 
portant in Hellas? Describe the organization of the amphictyony. 
Who were the Pylagorae? Mention all the authors represented in 
this chapter and the source of information of each. What is the 
historical value of each selection? 



CHAPTER X 

THE CITY-STATE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT 

I. Family, Village, and State 

The family is the association established by nature The family, 
for the supply of men's everyday wants, and the members Aristotle, 
of it are called by Charondas "companions of the cup- Pohtus ' l - 2 - 
board" and by Epimenides the Cretan, "companions of $S5 tf g8- 
the manger." But when several families are united, and i°4- 
the association aims at something more than the supply The village, 
of daily needs, then comes into existence the village. And 
the most natural form of the village appears to be that of a 
colony from the family, composed of the children and grand- 
children, who are said to be "nourished with the same 
milk." And this is the reason why Hellenic states were 
originally governed by kings; because the Hellenes were 
under royal rule before they came together, as the bar- 
barians still are. Every family is ruled by the eldest, and 
therefore in the colonies of the family the kingly form of 
government prevailed because they were of the same 
blood. . . . 

When several villages are united in a single community, The City- 
penect and large enough to be nearly or quite self-sumc- 
ing, the state comes into existence, originating in the 
bare needs of life, and continuing in existence for the sake 
of a good life. 

97 



98 The City-State and Its Development 



Situation. 

Aristotle, 
Politics, vii. 



Arrange- 
ment of 
houses in 
streets. 



II. The Founding of a City 

In respect of the place itself our wish would be to find 
a situation for it, fortunate in four things. The first, 
health; this is a necessity: cities which lie toward the east 
and are blown upon by winds coming from the east, are the 
healthiest; next in healthfulness are those which are 
sheltered from the north wind, for they have a milder win- 
ter. The site of the city should likewise be convenient 
for political administration and for war. With a view to 
the latter it should afford easy egress to the citizens, 
and at the same time be inaccessible and difficult of cap- 
ture to enemies. There should be a natural abundance 
of springs and fountains in the town; or, if there is a de- 
ficiency of them, great reservoirs may be established for 
the collection of rain-water, such as will not fail when 
the inhabitants are cut off from the country by war. 
Special care should be taken of the health of the inhabi- 
tants, which will depend chiefly on the healthiness of the 
locality and of the quarter to which they are exposed, 
and secondly, on the use of pure water; this latter point 
is by no means a secondary consideration. For the ele- 
ments which we use most and oftenest for the support of 
the body contribute most to health, and among these 
are water and air. Wherefore in all wise states, if there is 
a want of pure water and the supply is not all equally 
good, the drinking water ought to be separated from that 
which is used for other purposes. . . . 

The arrangement of private houses is considered to 
be more agreeable and generally more convenient, if the 
streets are regularly laid out after the modern fashion 
which Hippodamus introduced, but for security in war 
the antiquated mode of building, which made it difficult 



Limitations 99 

for strangers to get out of a town and for assailants to 
find their way in, is preferable. A city should therefore 
adopt both plans of building; it is possible to arrange the 
houses irregularly, as husbandmen plant their vines in 
what are called "clumps." The whole town should not 
be laid out in straight lines, but only certain quarters and 
regions; thus security and beauty will be combined. . . . 

III. Population and Territory should be Limited 

A state, then, only begins to exist when it has attained What should 
a population sufficient for a good life in the political e mi ' 
community; it may indeed somewhat exceed this number. Aristotle, 

_ _ . , . t . TTTi . i i i Politics, vii. 

But, as I was saying, there must be a limit. What should 4 f. 
be the limit will be easily ascertained by experience. For 
both governors and governed have duties to perform; 
the special functions of a governor are to command and 
to judge. But if the citizens of a state are to judge and 
distribute offices according to merit, then they must know 
each other's characters; where they do not possess this 
knowledge, both the election to offices and the decision of 
lawsuits will go wrong. When the population is very large, 
these things are manifestly settled at haphazard, which 
clearly ought not to be. Besides, in an overpopulous state 
foreigners and metics will readily acquire the rights of 
citizens, for who will find them out? Clearly then the best 
limit of the population of a state is the largest number 
which suffices for the purposes of life, and can be taken in 
at a single view. Enough concerning the size of a city. 

Much the same principle will apply to the territory Self- 
of the state; every one would agree in praising the state s cmg ' 
which is most entirely self-sufficing; and that must be the 
state which is all producing, for to have all things, and to 
want nothing is sufficiency. In size and extent it should 



Politics, Hi. 7. 



100 The City-State and Its Development 

be such as may enable the inhabitants to live temperately 
and liberally in the enjoyment of leisure. . . . 



IV. Forms of Government 

Three true We have next to consider how many forms of govern- 

government. ment there are, and what they are; and in the first place 
what are the true forms; for what they are determines the 
Aristotle, perversions of them, as will at once be apparent. The 
words constitution and government have the same mean- 
ing, and the government which is the supreme authority 
in states, must be in the hands of one or of a few or of many. 
The true forms of government therefore are those in which 
the one, or the few, or the many govern with a view to the 
common interest; but governments which rule with a view 
to the private interest, whether of the one, or of the few, 
or of the many, are perversions. For citizens, if they are 
truly citizens, ought to participate in the advantages of a 
state. Of forms of government in which one rules, we 
call that which regards the common interests, kingship 
or royalty; that in which more than one but not many, 
rule, aristocracy ("the rule of the best") ; and it is so called, 
either because the rulers are the best men, or because they 
have at heart the best interests of the state and of the 
citizens. But when the citizens at large administer the 
state for the common interest, the government is called 
by the generic name — a constitution. And there is a 
reason for this use of language. One man or a few 
may excel in virtue; but of virtue there are many kinds; 
and as the number increases, it becomes more difficult 
for them to attain perfection in every kind, though they 
may in military virtue, for this is found in the masses. 
Hence, in a constitutional government the fighting men 



Evolution of Government 101 

have the supreme power, and those who possess arms are 
the citizens. 

Of the above-mentioned forms, the perversions are as Three per- 
follows: — of royalty, tyranny; of aristocracy, oligarchy; forms, 
of constitutional government, democracy. For tyranny 
is a kind of monarchy which has in view the interest of the 
monarch only; oligarchy has in view the interest of the 
wealthy; democracy of the needy; none of them the com- 
mon good of all. 

The first governments were kingships; probably for Evolution of 
this reason, because of old, when cities were small, men of governmen 
eminent virtue were few. They were made kings because Aristotle, 
they were benefactors, and benefits can only be bestowed a[ \™*' 
by good men. But when many persons equal in merit 
arose, no longer enduring the pre-eminence of one, they 
desired to have a commonwealth, and set up a constitu- 
tion. The ruling class soon deteriorated and enriched 
themselves out of the public treasury; riches became the 
path to honor, and so oligarchies naturally grew up. These 
passed into tyrannies and tyrannies into democracies; 
for love of gain in the ruling classes was always tending to 
diminish their number, and so to strengthen the masses, 
who in the end set upon their masters and established 
democracies. Since cities have increased in size, no other 
form of government appears to be any longer possible. 

STUDIES 

i. What is a family, and what is a village? What form of govern- 
ment had the village and why? How did the state arise? 

2. What are the four essentials in the situation of a city? How 
may they be secured? What were the two modes of arranging the 
houses in streets, and their relative merits? 

3. What limit should there be to the extent and population of a 
citv-state? What would Aristotle think of our state? 



io2 The City-State and Its Development 

4. Name and define the true forms of government; the perverted 
forms. How does an oligarchy differ from an aristocracy? What 
objection has Aristotle to democracy? Trace the evolution of the 
various forms of government. When did Aristotle live, and what is 
the value of his Politics? 



CHAPTER XI 

ECONOMY AND COLONIZATION 

I. Farming 

Get a house first and a woman and a plowing ox; and Prepara- 
get all gear arrayed within the house, lest thou beg of small farm- 
another and he deny thee and thou go lacking, and the mg * 
season pass by and thy work be minished. Neither put Hesiod, 
off till the morrow nor the day after. The idle man filleth Days. 
not his barn, neither he that putteth off. Diligence pros- 
pereth work, but the man that putteth off ever wrestleth 
with ruin. 

And bring thou home a plowbeam, when thou findest Plows, 
it by search on hill or in field — of holm oak: for this is the Evidently 
strongest to plow with, when Athena's servant fasteneth hereha^in 
it in the share-beam and fixeth it with dowels to the pole. ™ ind a lar & er 
Get thee two plows, fashioning them at home, one of the 
natural wood, the other jointed, since it is far better to do 
so. Hence if thou break the one, thou canst yoke the oxen 
to the other. Freest of worms are poles of bay or elm. 
Get thee then share-beam of oak, plow-beam of holm, 
and two oxen of nine years. For the strength of such is 
not weak in the fulness of their age; they are best for 
work. They will not quarrel in the furrow and break the 
plow, and leave their work undone. And with them let 
a man of forty follow, his dinner a loaf of four quarters, 
eight pieces, who will mind his work and drive a straight 
furrow, no more gaping after his fellows, but having his 
heart on his task. Than he no younger man is better at 

103 



io4 Economy and Colonization 



Winter 
occupation. 



Winter 
clothing. 



Threshing 
and after. 



sowing. For the mind of a younger man is fluttered after 
his age-fellows. . . . And let a young slave follow behind 
with a mattock and cause trouble to the birds by covering 
up the seed. . . . 

But pass by the smith's forge and the crowded club- 
house in the winter season when cold constraineth men 
from work, wherein a diligent man would greatly prosper 
his house, lest the helplessness of evil winter overtake thee 
with poverty, and thou press a swollen foot with lean 
hand. But the idle man who waiteth on empty hope, 
for lack of livelihood garnereth many sorrows for his soul. 
Hope is a poor companion for a man in need, who sitteth 
in a club-house when he hath no livelihood secured. Nay, 
declare thou to thy thralls while it is still midsummer: 
It will not be summer always; build ye cabins. . . . 

In that season (winter) do thou for the defence of thy 
body array thee as I bid thee in soft cloak and full-length 
tunic, and twine much woof in a scanty warp. . . . About 
thy feet bind fitting sandals of the hide of a slaughtered 
ox, covering them with felt. And when the frost cometh 
in its season, sew thou together with thread of ox- thong 
the skins of firstling kids to put about thy back as a shield 
against the rain. And on thy head wear thou a cap of 
wrought felt, that thou mayest not have thy ears wetted. 
For chill is the dawn at the onset of Boreas. . . . 

But so soon as the strength of Orion appeareth, urge 
thy thralls to thresh the holy grain of Demeter in a windy 
place and on a rounded floor; measure and store it in ves- 
sels; and when thou hast laid up all thy livelihood within 
thy house, then I bid thee get a thrall that hath no family, 
and seek a serving woman without a child. Troublous 
is a serving woman that hath a child. Care, too, for the 
dog of jagged teeth. Spare not his food, lest the Day 



Agriculture; Navigation 105 

Sleeper filch away thy goods. Also bring in fodder and 
litter that thou mayest have sufficient store for thy cattle 
and thy mules. Then let thy thralls rest their knees and 
loose thine oxen. 

But when Orion and Sirius come into mid-heaven, and Vintage. 
rosy-fingered Morning looketh upon Arcturus, O Perses, 
pluck and bring home all thy grapes, and show them to 
the sun ten days and ten nights. Cover them five days 
and on the sixth draw off into vessels the gifts of joyous 
Dionysus. . . . 

In the flower of thine age lead thou home thy bride, Marriage. 
when thou art not far short of thirty years nor far past 
over. This is the timely marriage. Sixteen years old 
should be the woman; let her marry in the seventeenth. 
Marry a maiden that thou mayest teach her good ways. 
Marry a neighbor best of all, with care and circum- 
spection, lest thy marriage be a (malicious) joy to thy 
neighbors. For no better spoil doth a man win than a 
good wife, even as he winneth no worse than a bad wife — 
the banquet-seeker, that roasteth her husband without a 
brand, and giveth him over to untimely old age. 

II. Navigation 
For fifty days after the turning of the sun, when har- Directions 

_ J J , . ° ..... for naviga- 

vest, the weary season, hath come to an end, sailing is tion. 

seasonable for men. Thou shalt not break thy ship, nor 

shall the sea destroy thy crew, save only if Poseidon ^orks'and 

Shaker of the Earth or Zeus the King of the Immortals Days. 

be wholly minded to destroy. For with them is the issue 

alike of good and evil. Then are the breezes easy to judge 

and the sea is harmless. Then trust thou in the winds; 

with soul untroubled launch the swift ship in the sea, 

and well bestow therein thy cargo. And haste with all 



io6 Economy and Colonization 



A less favor- 
able season, 



speed to return home again ; neither wait the new wine and 
autumn rain, the winter's onset and the dread blasts of 
the southern wind, which, coming with the heavy autumn 
rain of Zeus, stirreth the sea and maketh the deep perilous. 
Also in spring may men sail; when first on the topmost 
spray of the fig-tree leaves appear as the foot-print of a 
crow for size, then is the sea navigable. This is the spring 
sailing, which I commend not, for it is not pleasing to my 
mind, snatched sailing that it is. Hardly shalt thou escape 
doom. Yet even this men do in ignorance of mind. For 
money is life for hapless men : but dread is death amid the 
waves, and I bid thee think of all these things in thy 
There was no heart, even as I say. Neither set thou all thy livelihood 
in hollow ships, but leave the greater part and put on 
board the less. For a dread thing it is to chance on doom 
amid the waves. 



insurance. 



III. Tarentum 



Topography 
and art. 

Strabo vi. 
3- I. 

Greece, 34; 
Ancient 
World, 107. 



The Gulf of Tarentum is for the most part destitute of a 
port, but here there is a large commodious harbor closed 
in by a great bridge. . . . The site of the city is extremely 
low. The ground rises slightly toward the citadel. The 
old wall of the city has an immense circuit, but now the 
greater portion — that toward the isthmus — is deserted; 
but the part near the mouth of the harbor still subsists 
and constitutes a considerable city. It possesses a noble 
gymnasium and a spacious forum, in which stands a 
bronze colossus of Zeus, the largest ever made excepting 
the one at Rhodes. The citadel, situated between the 
forum and the entrance to the harbor, still preserves some 
slight relics of the ancient magnificence of consecrated 
offerings, but the best were destroyed either by the Car- 
thaginians when they took the city or by the Romans when 



Strabo vi. 
3- 4- 



Tarentum; Marseilles 107 

they stormed and sacked it. In the booty taken on this 
occasion was the bronze colossus of Hercules, the work of 
Lysippus, now on the Capitoline Hill. It was dedicated 
there as an offering by Fabius Maximus, who captured the 
city. 

At one time, when the government of the Tarentines Govern- 
had assumed a democratic form, they rose to great im- 
portance; for they possessed the largest fleet of all the 
states in that region, and could bring into the field an army 
of 30,000 foot and 3,000 horse besides a select body of 
1000 cavalry called hipparchi. They adopted, too, the 
Pythagorean philosophy; and Archytas, who for a long 
time presided over the government, gave it his special 
support. At a later period, however, their luxury, aris- 
ing from their prosperity, so increased that their public 
festivals exceeded in number the days of the year. Hence 
arose an inefficient government. 

IV. Massalia (Marseilles) 

Marseilles, founded by the Phocaeans, is built in a its founding, 
stony region. Its harbor lies beneath a rock which is Strabo w. 
shaped like a theatre opening toward the south. Walls I ' 4 ' 
protect the harbor and the whole city, which is of consider- ^^ lt \ IO 
able size. Within the citadel stand the Ephesium and 
the temple of the Delphian Apollo. The latter temple 
is common to all the Ionians. The Ephesium is the 
temple consecrated to Artemis of Ephesus. It is said 
that when the Phocaeans were about to quit their country, 
an oracle commanded them to take from Artemis of Ephe- 
sus, a conductor for their voyage. On arriving at Ephesus, 
therefore, they inquired how they might be able to ob- 
tain from the goddess what was ordered them. The god- 



Government. 

lb. 5. 



Timuchi, 
"holders of 
honor" 
(office.) 



Livelihood. 



108 Economy and Colonization 

dess appeared in a dream to Aristarcha, one of the most 
honorable women of the city, and commanded her to ac- 
company the Phocaeans, and to take with her a plan of 
the temple and statues. When this was done and the 
colony settled, the Phocaeans built a temple, and evinced 
their great respect for Aristarcha by making her priestess. 
All the colonies sent out from Marseilles hold this goddess 
in peculiar reverence, preserving the form of the statue 
as well as every rite observed in the mother-city. 

The Massalians live under a well-regulated aristocracy. 
They have a council composed of six hundred persons 
called timuchi, who enjoy this dignity for life. Fifteen 
timuchi preside over the council and have the manage- 
ment of current affairs; these fifteen are presided over by 
three of their number, in whom rests the chief authority; 
and of these three, one is chairman. No one can become 
a timuchus unless he has children and has been a citizen 
for three generations. Their laws, which are the same as 
those of the Ionians, they expound in public. 

Their country abounds in vines and olives, but on ac- 
count of its ruggedness their wheat is poor. Hence they 
trust more to the resources of the sea than of the land, and 
avail themselves of their excellent position for commerce. 
They have found it possible, however, through persever- 
ance to annex some of the surrounding plains, and also 
to found cities. Of this number are the cities they founded 
in Iberia as a rampart against the Iberians, in which they 
introduced the worship of Artemis of Ephesus as practised 
in the fatherland, with the Greek mode of sacrifice. . . . 
They possess also dry docks and armories. Formerly 
they had an abundance of vessels, arms, and machines 
for navigation and for besieging towns, by which means 
they defended themselves against the barbarians. 



Colonial Institutions 109 

V. Relation between the Colony and the 
Mother-City 

I maintain that this colony of ours has a father and a As a child to 
mother, who are no other than the colonizing state. Well a paren ' 
I know that many colonies have been, and will be, at Plato, Laws, 
enmity with their parents. But in early days, the child, V1 * 754 ' 
as in a family, loves and is loved; even if there come a Greece, 39; 
time later when the tie is broken, still while he is in want world, '106. 
of education, he naturally loves his parents and is beloved 
by them, and flies to his relatives for protection, and finds 
in them his only natural allies in time of need; and this 
parental feeling already exists in the Cnossians, as is 
shown by their care of the new city; and there is a similar 
feeling on the part of the young city toward Cnossus. 

VI. Athenian Decree for the Colonization of Brea, 
446-445 

The leaders of the colonists shall provide flocks of goats, Religious 
as many as they shall deem sufficient, for the offering of 
auspicious sacrifices in behalf of the colony. Ten men shall ^ n mscnp ' 
be chosen as surveyors, one from each tribe, and these Surveyors 
men shall assign the land. Democlides shall have full 
power to establish the colony according to the best of his founder, 
ability. The sacred domains that have been set apart 
shall be left as they are, and no others shall be conse- 
crated. 

STUDIES 

1. What things must the farmer have to begin with? Do these 
directions have reference to a large or a small farm? Describe the 
making of a plow. What kinds of wood grew in the forests? Who 
will make the best plowman? Ts this man of forty slave or free? 
Does this reference to the plowman and the slave boy indicate a very 



no Economy and Colonization 

small farm? How was the seed covered? What class of men frequent 
the club-houses? What should the farmer do during winter? De- 
scribe the threshing; the vintage. What directions are given for 
marriage? 

2. What are the seasons for navigation? What precaution is to 
be taken regarding the cargo? What seems to have been the condi- 
tion of navigation? 

3. Describe the situation of Tarentum. What became of its works 
of art? What was its form of government? 

4. How did Artemis come to be the chief deity of Marseilles? Com- 
pare the government of this city with that of Tarentum. What were 
the occupations of the people? 

5. How was the colony related to the mother-city? 

6. What regulations for the founding of Brea did Athens establish 
by decree? 



CHAPTER XII 

THE RISE OF SPARTA AND THE PELOPONNESIAN 
LEAGUE 



I. Lycurgus: Regency and Travels 

With regard to Lycurgus the lawgiver there is noth- 
ing whatever that is undisputed; as his birth, his travels, 
his death, and besides all this, his legislation, have all been 
related in various ways. . . . He was king for eight 
months in all ; and was much looked up to by the citizens 
who rendered a willing obedience to him, because of his 
eminent virtues rather than because he was regent with 
royal powers. There was, nevertheless, a faction which 
grudged him his elevation, and tried to oppose him, as 
he was a young man. ... He decided to avoid all sus- 
picion by leaving the country and travelling until his 
nephew should be grown up and have an heir born to 
succeed him. 

With this intention he set sail, and first came to Crete, 
where he studied the constitution and mixed with the 
leading statesmen. Some part of their laws he approved 
and made himself master of, with the intention of adopting 
them on his return home, while with others he was dis- 
satisfied. One of the men who had a reputation there 
for learning and state-craft he made his friend, and in- 
duced him to go to Sparta. This was Thaletas, who was 
thought to be merely a lyric poet, and who used this art 
to conceal his graver requirements, being in reality deeply 
versed in legislation. His poems were exhortations to 



Nothing 
positively 
known of 
him. 

Plutarch, 
Lycurgus, 
1-6. 



Greece, 56; 
Ancient 
World, 117 f. 



His visit to 
Crete. 



Public 
tables. 



Plutarch, 
Lycurgus, 10. 



Girls and 
women. 

lb. 14. 



112 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

unity and concord, breathing a spirit of calm and order, 
which insensibly civilised their hearers and by urging 
them to the pursuit of honorable objects, led them to lay 
aside the feelings of party strife so prevalent in Sparta; 
so that he may be said in some degree to have educated 
the people and prepared them to receive the reforms of 
Lycurgus. 

II. His Idea of Education 

Wishing still further to put down luxury and take away 
the desire for riches, he introduced the third and the 
most admirable of his reforms, that of the common din- 
ing-table. At this the people were to meet and dine 
together upon a fixed allowance of food, and not to live 
in their own homes, lolling on expensive couches at rich 
tables, fattened like beasts in private by the hands of 
servants and cooks, and undermining their health by in- 
dulgence to excess in every bodily desire, long sleep, warm 
baths, and much repose, so that they required a sort of 
daily nursing like sick people. 

Considering education to be the most important and 
the noblest work of a lawgiver, he began at the very be- 
ginning, and regulated marriages and the birth of children. 
It is not true that, as Aristotle says, he endeavored to 
regulate the lives of the women, and failed, being foiled 
by the liberty and habits of command which they had 
acquired by the long absences of their husbands on mili- 
tary expeditions, during which they were necessarily 
left in sole charge at home, wherefore their husbands looked 
up to them more than was fitting, calling them Mistresses; 
but he made what regulations were necessary for them also. 
He strengthened the bodies of the girls by exercises in 
running, wrestling, and hurling quoits or javelins, in 



Modesty and Moderation 113 

order that their children might spring from a healthy 
source and so grow up strong. ... He did away with all 
affectation of seclusion and retirement among the women, 
and ordained that the girls, no less than the boys, should 
go unclad in processions, and dance and sing at festivals 
in the presence of the young men. 



III. The Modesty of the Youths; the Moderation 
of their Food 

Furthermore, in his desire firmly to implant in their Silent and 
youthful souls a root of modesty he imposed upon these 

bigger boys a special rule. In the very streets they were cmstitution 

to keep their two hands within the folds of the cloak; oftkeLace- 

* t m m denionians, 

they were to walk in silence and without turning their 3- 
heads to gaze, now here now there, but rather to keep 
their eyes fixed upon the ground before them. And hereby 
it would seem to be proved conclusively that, even in the 
matter of quiet bearing and sobriety, the masculine type 
may claim greater strength than that which we attribute 
to the nature of women. At any rate, you might sooner 
expect a stone image to find voice than one of those Spar- 
tan youths; to divert the eyes of some bronze statue were 
less difficult. And as to quiet bearing, no bride ever 
stepped in bridal bower with more natural modesty. Note 
them when they have reached the public table. The 
plainest answer to the question asked, — that is all you 
need expect from their lips. 

As to food, his ordinance allowed them so much as Their food, 
while not inducing repletion, should guard them from lb. 5-7. 
actual want. And in fact, there are many exceptional 
dishes in the shape of game supplied from the hunting 
field. Or, as a substitute for these, rich men will occasion- 



ii4 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

ally garnish the feast with wheaten loaves. So that from 
beginning to end, till the mess breaks up, the common 
board is never stinted for viands, nor yet extravagantly 
furnished. 



The land 
system. 

Plutarch, 
Lycurgus, 



The Cryp- 
teia. 

lb. 28. 

Greece, 59 f.; 
Ancient 
World, 112 f. 



IV. The Periceci and the Helots 

Putting his proposal immediately into practice, he 
divided the outlying lands of the state among the periceci, 
in thirty thousand lots, and that immediately adjoining 
the metropolis among the native Spartans, in nine thou- 
sand lots, for to that number they then amounted. Some 
say that Lycurgus made six thousand lots, and that 
Polydorus added three thousand afterwards; others that 
he added half the nine thousand, and that only half was 
allotted by Lycurgus. 

Each man's lot was of such a size as to supply a man 
with seventy medimni of barley, and his wife with twelve, 
and oil and wine in proportion; for thus much he thought 
ought to suffice them, as the food was enough to maintain 
them in health, and they wanted nothing more. It is said 
that, some years afterwards, as he was returning from a 
journey through the country at harvest-time, when he saw 
the sheaves of corn lying in equal parallel rows, he smiled, 
and said to his companions that all Laconia seemed as if 
it had just been divided among so many brothers. 

In all these acts of Lycurgus we cannot find any traces 
of the injustice and unfairness which some complain of 
in his laws, which they say are excellent to produce cour- 
age but less so for justice. And the institution called 
Crypteia, if indeed it is one of the laws of Lycurgus, as 
Aristotle tells us, would agree with the idea which Plato 
conceived about him and his system. The Crypteia was 
this: the leaders of the young men used at intervals to 



The Helots 115 

send the most discreet of them into different parts of the 
country, equipped with daggers and necessary food; in 
the daytime these men used to conceal themselves in un- 
frequented spots, and take their rest, but at night they 
would come down into the roads and murder any helots 
they found. And often they would range about the fields, 
and make away with the strongest and bravest helots 
they could find. Also, as Thucydides mentions in his 
History of the Peloponnesian War, those helots who were 
especially honored by the Spartans for their valor were 
crowned as free men, and taken to the temples with re- 
joicings; but in a short time they all disappeared, to the 
number of more than two thousand, and in such a way 
that no man, either then or afterward, could tell how they 
perished. Aristotle says that the Ephors, when they first 
take office, declare war against the helots, in order that it 
may be lawful to destroy them. And much other harsh 
treatment used to be inflicted upon them; and they were 
compelled to drink much unmixed wine, and then were 
brought into the public dining halls, to show the young 
what drunkenness is. 

They were also forced to sing low songs, and to dance Degradation 
low dances, and not to meddle with those of a higher 
character. It is said that when the Thebans made their 
celebrated campaign in Lacedaemon, they ordered the 
helots whom they captured to sing them the songs of 
Terpander, and Alcman, and Spendon the Laconian; 
but they begged to be excused for they said, " the masters 
do not like it." So it seems to have been well said that in 
Lacedaemon, the free man was more free, and the slave 
more a slave than anywhere else. This harsh treatment, 
I imagine, began in later times, especially after the great 
earthquake, when they relate that the helots joined the 



n6 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

Messenians, ravaged the country and almost conquered 
it. I cannot impute this wicked act of the Crypteia to 
Lycurgus, when I consider the gentleness and justice of 
his general behavior, which also we know was inspired by 
heaven. 

VI. The Council of Elders 



Criticisms 
on the coun- 
cil. 



Aristotle, 
Politics, ii. o. 



Candidates 
passed one 
by one 
through the 
assembly 
and were 
acclaimed. 
The returning 
board behind 
a screen 
determined 
the choice by 
the intensity 
of the ap- 
plause. 



Again, the council of elders is not free from defects. It 
may be said that the elders are good men and well trained 
in manly virtue; and that, therefore, there is an advantage 
to the state in having them. But that judges of important 
causes should hold office for life is not a good thing, for 
the mind grows old as well as the body. And when men 
have been educated in such a manner that even the legis- 
lator himself cannot trust them, there is real danger. 
Many of the elders are well known to have taken bribes 
and to have been guilty of partiality in public affairs. 
And therefore they ought not to be irresponsible; yet at 
Sparta they are so. But it may be replied: "All magis- 
tracies are accountable to the Ephors." Yes, but this 
prerogative is too great for them, and we maintain that 
the control should be exercised in some other manner. 
Further, the mode in which the Spartans elect their elders 
is childish; and it is improper that the person to be elected 
should canvass for the office; the worthiest should be ap- 
pointed whether he chooses or not. And here the legis- 
lator clearly indicates the same intention which appears 
in other parts of his constitution; he would have his 
citizens ambitious, and he has reckoned upon this quality 
in the election of the elders; for no one would ask to be 
elected if he were not. Yet ambition and avarice, almost 
more than any other passions, are the motives of crime. . . 

The charge which Plato brings, in the Laws, against 



Kings 



ii 



the intention of the legislator, is likewise justified; the They think 

. too much of 

whole constitution has regard to one part of virtue only, — war. 
the virtue of the soldier, which gives victory in war. And 
so long as they were at war, their power was preserved, 
but when they had attained empire they fell; for of the 
arts of peace they knew nothing, and had never engaged 
in any employment higher than war. There is another 
error, equally great, into which they have fallen. Although 
they truly think that the goods for which they contend 
are to be acquired by virtue rather than by vice, they err 
in supposing that these goods are to be preferred to the 
virtue which gains them. 



VII. The Two Kings 
These are the royal rights which have been given by Privileges 



in war. 

Herodotus 
vi. 56. 



the Spartans to their kings, namely, two priesthoods, 
of Zeus Lacedaemon and Zeus Uranius; and the right of 
making war against whatsoever land they please, and 
that no man of the Spartans shall hinder this right, or if Greece, 61; 
he do, he shall be subject to the curse; and that when world, 116 f 
they go on expeditions the kings shall go out first and re- 
turn last; that a hundred picked men shall be their guard 
upon expeditions; and that they shall use in their goings 
forth to war as many cattle as they desire, and take both 
the hides and the backs of all that are sacrificed. 

These are their privileges in war; and in peace moreover Privileges in 
things have been assigned to them as follows: — if any peace 
sacrifice is performed at the public charge, it is the priv- ^ er ° 7 dotus 
ilege of the kings to sit down at the feast before all others, 
and the attendants shall begin with them first, and serve 
to each of them a portion of everything double that which 
is given to the other guests, and they shall have the first 



n8 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 



Their din 
ner. 



pouring of libations and the hides of the animals slain 
in sacrifice. On every new moon and seventh day of the 
month there shall be delivered at the public charge to each 
one of them a full-grown victim in the temple of Apollo, 
and a measure of barley-groats and a Laconian " quarter" 
of wine; and at all the games they shall have seats of honor 
specially set apart for them. Moreover it is their privilege 
to appoint as protectors of strangers whomsoever they 
will of the citizens, and to choose each two "Pythians." 
Now the Pythians are men sent to consult the god at 
Delphi, and they eat with the kings at the public charge. 
And if the kings do not come to dinner, it is the rule 
that there shall be sent out for them to their houses two 
quarts of barley-groats for each one and half a pint of 
wine; but if they are present, double shares of everything 
shall be given them, and moreover they shall be honored 
in this same manner when they have been invited to dinner 
by private persons. The kings also, it is ordained, shall 
have charge of the oracles which are given, but the Pyth- 
ians too shall have knowledge of them, 
jurisdiction. It is the rule moreover that the kings alone give de- 
cisions on the following cases only, that is to say, about 
the maiden who inherits her father's property, namely 
who ought to have her, if her father have not betrothed 
her to anyone, and about public ways; also if any man de- 
sires to adopt a son, he must do it in presence of the kings ; 
and it is ordained that they shall sit in council with the 
elders, who are in number eight and twenty; and if they 
do not come, those of the elders who are most closely 
related to them shall have the privileges of the kings and 
give two votes besides their own, making three in all. 
Funeral. These rights have been assigned to the kings for their 

vi. 58. lifetime by the Spartan state; and after they are dead these 



Seats in the 
Council. 



A Royal Funeral 119 

which follow: — horsemen go round and announce that 
which has happened throughout the whole of the Lacon- 
ian land; and in the city women go about and strike upon 
a copper kettle. Whenever this happens so, two free 
persons of each household must go into mourning, a man 
and a woman, and for those who fail to do this, great 
penalties are appointed. Now the custom of the Lace- 
daemonians about the death of their kings is the same as 
that of the barbarians who dwell in Asia, for most of the 
barbarians practise the same custom as regards the death 
of their kings. Whensoever a king of the Lacedaemonians 
is dead, then from the whole territory of Lacedaemon, 
not reckoning the Spartans, a certain fixed number of the 
"dwellers round" are compelled to go to the funeral cere- 
mony; and when there have been gathered together 
of these and of the helots and of the Spartans themselves 
many thousands in the same place, with their women 
intermingled, they beat their foreheads with a good will 
and make lamentation without stint, saying that this one 
who has died last of their kings was the best of all; and 
whenever any of their kings has been killed in war, they 
prepare an image to represent him, laid upon a couch with 
fair coverings, and carry it out to be buried. Then after 
they have buried him, no assembly is held among them 
for ten days, nor is there any meeting for choice of magis- 
trates, but they have mourning during these days. 

VIII. Constitution of the Peloponnesian League 

In 418 B.C. Lacedaemon made an alliance with Argos, practically 
admitting the latter to the Peloponnesian league. The terms of the 
treaty throw a clear light on the relation between Sparta and her 
allies. 

It seems good to the Lacedaemonians and to the Argives 



Treaty be- 
tween Lace- 
daemon and 
Argos, 418, 
B.C. 

Document 
quoted by 
Thucydides 
v. 79. 

It is only 
from such 
documents 
and from oc- 
casional 
references of 
historians 
that we 
obtain a 
knowledge 
of the Pel- 
oponnesian 
constitution. 

Greece, 79 f.; 
A ncient 
World, 120 f. 



120 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

to make peace and alliance for fifty years on the follow- 
ing conditions: — 

I. They shall submit to arbitration on fair and equal 
terms, according to their ancestral customs. 

II. The other cities of Peloponnesus shall participate 
in the peace and alliance, and shall be independent and 
their own masters, retaining their own territory and sub- 
mitting to arbitration on fair and equal terms, according 
to their ancestral customs. 

III. All the allies of the Lacedaemonians outside Pelo- 
ponnesus shall share in the same terms as the Lacedaemo- 
nians, and the allies of the Argives shall be in the same 
position as the Argives, and shall retain their present 
territory. 

IV. If it shall be necessary to make any expedition in 
common against any place, the Lacedaemonians and the 
Argives shall consult together and fix the share in the war 
which may be equitably borne by the allies. 

V. If any of the states either within or without Pelopon- 
nesus, have a dispute about a frontier, or any other matter, 
the difference shall be duly settled, But should a quarrel 
break out between two of the allied cities, they shall ap- 
peal to some state which both the cities deem to be im- 
partial. 

VI. Justice shall be administered to the individual 
citizens according to their ancestral customs. 

We may add the following clauses from an earlier treaty, which 
shed further light on the Peloponnesian constitution : — 



Document 
quoted by 
Thucydides 
v. 77- 



VII. The cities of Peloponnesus, both small and great, 
shall be independent according to their ancestral laws. 

VIII. If anyone from without Peloponnesus comes 
against Peloponnesus with evil intent, the Peloponnesians 



A Treat)' 121 

shall take counsel together and shall repel the enemy; 
and the several states shall bear such a share in the war 
as shall seem equitable to the Peloponnesians. 

IX. Treaty between the Eleians and the Hermans 

This document is interesting as the earliest Greek treaty for which 
we have inscriptional evidence. It belongs to the first half of the 
sixth century B.C. — probably about 572, when the Eleians gained 
control of Olympia and its festival. Heraea was a neighboring dis- 
trict of Arcadia. Probably the treaties between Lacedaemon and 
her individual allies were cast in a similar form. 

The covenant of the Eleians and the Heraeans: There The terms, 
shall be an alliance for one hundred years, and this year 
shall begin it. If anything shall be needed, whether word 
or deed, they shall assist one another in all other respects 
and in war. If they fail to assist one another, the party 
that fails shall pay a talent of silver as an offering to 
Olympian Zeus. If anyone, whether private citizen, Or possibly, 
magistrate or community, violates these provisions, Ascription." 
he shall be subject to the sacred fine herein provided. 

STUDIES 

1. What evidence do we here find that Lycurgus was a myth? 
What significance has the story that he got his laws from Crete? 

2. What do we gather from this passage as to the spirit and object 
of Spartan education? How were the girls trained? 

3. What does Xenophon say of the deportment of youths? What 
restriction was placed on their food? 

4. What lands were owned by the Spartans and the periceci re- 
spectively? What did a Spartan receive from his lot? 

5. Describe the crypteia. What was the condition of the helots? 
Why were they treated harshly? 

6. What defects does Aristotle find in the Lacedaemonian council 
of Elders? What objection has he to canvassing for offices? What 



122 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

would he think of our politics? What are the two chief motives to 
crime? 

7. What rights have the Lacedaemonian kings in war and in peace 
respectively? Who were the Pythians? Describe the ceremonies at 
the funeral of a king. From what source did the Lacedaemonians 
probably adopt this custom? 

8. From these two documents make out as full a written state- 
ment as possible of the relation between Sparta and her several allies. 
To what extent was arbitration employed? 

9. What are the terms of treaty mentioned in this document? Who 
was the Olympian Zeus? 



CHAPTER XIII 

ATHENS: FROM MONARCHY TO DEMOCRACY 

I. The Kingship and the Aristocracy 

Afterward it came about that for a long time the Social con- 
nobles and commons disturbed the state by their sedition. f or e Solon. 
For the government was oligarchic in all respects; and Aristotle, 
particularly the poor, with their children and wives, Constitution 
were in slavery to the rich. They were called pelatae Athenians, 2. 
[clients] and hectemori " [sixth-part men"], for they tilled Greece, 46 f.; 
the fields of the wealthy for that amount of rent. All the #*J^, , . 
land was in the hands of the few; and if they [the tenants] 
failed to render the rents due, they and their children were 
liable to enslavement. There were loans on the security 
of every one's person down to the time of Solon; and he 
was in fact the first to stand forth as a patron of the com- 
mons. Now it was a most hard and grievous feature of 
the constitution that the masses should be in slavery; 
not but that they had other grounds of complaint, for 
they were, so to speak, excluded from everything. 

The organization of the original government [of the From king- 
republic] as it existed before Draco, was as follows. Their tocracy. 
appointments to office were based on the qualifications Arist $ 3< 
of birth and wealth. Originally the offices were life-long 
and afterward decennial. The first and most important 
magistrates were the king, polemarch, and archon. The 
earliest of these three was the kingship, for it existed from 
the beginning. Secondly was instituted in addition the 
polemarchy because of the fact that some of the kings 

123 



124 Athens 

had proved incapable in war; hence they had sent for Ion 
on an occasion of especial need. The last was the arch- 
onship. . . . The thesmothetae were for the first time 
chosen many years later — when the magistrates had al- 
ready come to be elected annually — in order that they might 
record the customary laws and keep them for the trial 
of offenders. Therefore this alone of the offices has never 
been longer than a year in duration. Thus much do they 
precede one another in the time (of their institution). . . . 
They had absolute power to settle cases without appeal, 
and not as now merely to hold a preliminary trial. These, 
then, were the regulations regarding the offices. And the 
council of the Areopagus had the function of watching 
over the laws; but in fact it managed the most numerous 
and important public affairs with full power to chastise 
and fine all who acted disorderly. Birth and wealth were 
required of those who were elected archons; and from them 
the Areopagites were constituted. Hence the office of 
the latter has alone remained lifelong to the present day. 

II. The Timocracy 

Constitution Such is an outline of the original constitution. No long 
of Draco. time afterward in the archonship of Aristaechmus, Draco 
lb. 4. drew up his laws. But the constitution itself [as it then 

existed] had the following character. The franchise had 
already been granted to those who could furnish a pan- 
oply. They elected the nine archons and the treasurers 
from such as possessed an estate worth not less than ten 
minas free from encumbrance, and the other, less im- 
portant offices from those who had the franchise. The 
generals and hipparchs must show an estate free from 
encumbrance, worth no less than a hundred minas, and 



limocracy; bolon 125 

must be the fathers of children above ten years of age, There can 

born of a lawful wife. It was necessary for these persons, that such a 

namely the prytanes, generals and hipparchs, to give e rnrr.ent fn° V " 

security for the year to the time of their audit, furnishing ? en ^ T f- f x ' 

four securities of the same census class as the generals Solon, though 

and the hipparchs. There was to be a Council of Four details seem 

Hundred and One, appointed by lot from those who had J° be * h r ° ng 

a right to vote. This and other offices were filled by lot property 

.. , . . , , . . , . qualifications 

from the citizens above thirty years of age, and it was not of these 
permitted to hold the same office a second time till all ma s istrates )- 
had their turn, then the lot was drawn anew from the Greece, 45; 
beginning. When there was a session of the council or World, 126 f. 
assembly if any councillor was absent, he was fined if a 
pentacosiomedimnus three drachmas, if a knight two, if 
a zeugite one. The council of the Areopagus was guard- 
ian of the laws, and supervised the offices to see that they 
were legally administered. It was permitted to anyone 
who was injured, to bring an impeachment before the 
Areopagites, citing the law in violation of which he was 
suffering harm. However, there were loans on the secur- 
ity of the person, as has been said, and the land was in the 
hands of the few. 

III. Solon 

Such being the organization of the government, while Election to 
the many were in slavery to the few, the commons rose in S hi p . 
revolt against the nobles. After the sedition had grown Arist. ib. 5. 
strong and the two parties had long been arrayed against 
each other, they in common elected Solon as arbitrator Greece, 50 ff.; 
and archon, and intrusted to him the constitution. The world, 130 ff. 
occasion was his composition of the elegy beginning thus : — 

"I perceive, and within my heart lie griefs, as I see the 
oldest country of Iaonia in distress. Never is it the will 



126 



Athens 



Oppression 
of the poor. 

Only the first 
two lines of 
this poem 
are found 
in Arist. 
Const. Alh.; 
the rest is 
taken from 
another 



of Zeus and the thought of the blessed immortal gods that 
our city perish; for in such wise the high-souled guardian 
of the city, Pallas Athena, daughter of a mighty sire 
spreads over it her hands. The nobles, persuaded by their 
love of money, desire recklessly to destroy the great city. 
And as to the people, the mind of their magistrates is 
dishonest — magistrates who are destined to suffer many 
ills because of their monstrous violence. For they know 
not how to be satisfied or to enjoy the present feast in 
quiet. . . . They grow wealthy in obedience to unjust 
deeds. . . . They spare neither sacred nor public prop- 
erty and they rob and steal, one here and one there. They 
guard not the revered foundations of Justice, who though 
silent, knows what is going on, what went on before, and 
has come to demand full settlement in time. This wound 
inevitable hath come upon all the city, namely evil slavery 
into which the state hath quickly fallen, and which stirs 
up civil strife and war, — war that destroys our lovely 
youth in numbers. For our well-beloved city is consumed 
by the evil-minded in their meetings, in which unjust 
plans are held dear. These are the ills prevailing in the. 
commons; but many of the poor are going into a foreign 
land, sold and bound in unseemly chains and suffer hate- 
ful woes by force of slavery. Hall doors no longer will 
to hold the evil, it leapeth over the lofty edge, and you find 
it everywhere, even if you hide in a chamber corner. This 
my soul bids me teach the Athenians, that misrule brings 
most ills to a city; but good rule makes all things har- 
monious and at one. Good order puts bonds upon the 
wicked, smooths the rough, stays satiety, weakens vio- 
lence, withers flowers that grow of Ate (reckless guilt), 
straightens crooked judgments, softens acts of cruelty, 
ends disputation, ends the wrath of hateful strife." 



Constitutional Reforms 127 

When he had become master of the state, Solon freed Abolition of 
the commons both for the present and for the future by 

forbidding loans on the security of the person; and he Aristotle, 
enacted laws and made an abolition of debts both private 
and public. . . . 

He established a constitution and made laws besides, His laws. 

and the ordinances of Draco they ceased using with the li>- 7- 

exception of those concerning homicide. Engraving the Aristotle 

laws on tablets, he set them up in the King's Porch, and that all 

all swore to obey them. The nine archons, taking oath abolished; 

on a stone, swore that they would dedicate a golden and Solon s 

J ° poems seem 

statue in case they transgressed any of the laws, hence to to indicate 

, . , , . . that the 

the present day they continue to take this oath. abolition ap- 

He divided [the population] into four census classes, jJ^JSesfon 
just as it had been divided before, into pentacosiomed- Iand ancl 

/ . person. 

imni, knights (hippeis), zeugitae, and thetes. He assigned The census 
the offices to be rilled from the pentacosiomedimni, knights classes, 
and zeugitae, namely the nine archons, the treasurers, 
the commissioners of contracts, the eleven, and the cola- 
cretae, distributing them among the several classes ac- 
cording to their property ratings. To the thetic class he 
granted a share in the assembly and the popular courts 
only. A pentacosiomedimnus was one who produced from 
his own estate five hundred measures wet and dry to- 
gether, a knight three hundred measures, but as some 
say, one who could support a horse; and they adduce as 
proof the name of the class, with the idea that it was de- 
rived from this circumstance, and they cite the dedi- 
catory offerings of the ancients, for there stands on the 
Acropolis a statue with the following inscription: — 

"Anthemion, son of Diphilus, dedicated this statue 
to the gods when he exchanged the thetic for the knightly 
census." . . . 



128 Athens 

The zeugitae were those who produced two hundred 

measures of both kinds, and the rest were thetes, who had 

no right to any magistracy. Hence even now when the 

question is asked of one who is to be taken by lot for any 

office, what census class he belongs to, no one answers 

the thetic. 

Method of The archonship he caused to be filled by lot from nomi- 

archonship. nees whom the tribes severally selected. Each tribe chose 

lb. 8. ten nominees for the archonships and lots were drawn 

from them; hence even now remains the custom for the 

Here Aristotle tribes to draw severally by lot ten candidates, from whom 

wrong; it the archons are then appointed by lot. A proof that he 

tha?the ertam caused them to be taken by lot from the census classes 

archons were { s the law which they continue even now to use concerning 

elected till , . J „ . , , 

287 B.C.; see the treasurers; it prescribes that they be appointed by 
lot from the pentacosiomedimni. Thus Solon legislated 
regarding the nine archons, whereas in the original form 
of constitution the council of the Areopagus had called 
up men and of its own judgment had assigned them ac- 
cording to their qualifications to the several offices for 
the year. There were four tribes as before and four tribe- 
The tribes, kings. From the several tribes were formed three trittyes, 
rSucraries! 1 with twelve naucraries to each. Over the naucraries 
were established as a magistracy, the naucrars, having 
charge of the current receipts and expenditures. In the 
laws of Solon, therefore, which they no longer use, it is 
often written that the naucrars shall pay into and expend 
The council from the naucraric fund. He constituted further a coun- 
opagus. cil of four hundred, a hundred from each tribe; and he 

assigned the council of the Areopagus to the duty of pro- 
tecting the laws, just as formerly it was guardian of the 
constitution. In fact it continued to supervise in addition 
the most numerous and most important administrative 



All Factions Dissatisfied 129 

matters, while it corrected wrong-doers with full power 
to fine and punish, and it brought up the fines to the 
Acropolis without the obligation of stating the ground 
for their exaction. Furthermore it tried conspirators 
against the state under a law of impeachment which Solon 
enacted concerning such offenders. Seeing the state often 
disturbed by sedition and many of the citizens through 
sheer inertness allowing such affairs to take their own 
course, he enacted with reference to them a peculiar law, 
that whoever, when the country is disturbed by sedition, 
shall not take up arms with either faction, shall be dis- 
franchised and deprived of all part in the state. . . . 
When he had arranged the government in the manner Solon's jour- 

. . • i • j • ne y abroad. 

described, many people kept coming to him and annoying 
him in regard to the laws, finding fault with some points lb. n. 
and asking questions concerning others; and as he wished 
neither to disturb these arrangements nor to remain and 
incur enmities, he went on a journey for trade and sight- 
seeing to Egypt, saying he would not return for ten years; 
for he thought it was not right that he should remain and 
interpret the laws but that everyone should obey them to 
the letter. It was at the same time his misfortune that 
many of the nobles were at variance with him because 
of the abolition of debts and that both factions had shifted 
their attitude because his reform had turned out contrary 
to their expectation. For the commons supposed he would 
redistribute everything, whereas the nobles hoped he 
would restore to them the same constitution or make but 
little change in it. He, however, opposed both parties, 
and though it was permitted him by conspiring with 
either to make himself tyrant, he preferred to incur the 
emnity of both parties by saving his country and legislat- 
ing for the best. . . . 



130 



Athens 



Justification 
of his policy. 

lb. 12, quot- 
ing a poem of 
Solon. 



Abolition of 
mortgages 
and emanci- 
pation of 
debt-slaves. 



"In the just fulness of time the most mighty mother 
of the Olympian gods will bear me witness, even black 
Earth, most excellent, that I removed the mortgage pil- 
lars which stood in many places, — she was formerly in 
slavery but now set free. To Athens our country divinely 
founded, I restored many men who had been sold, some 
illegally, others under the law, others whom hard necessity 
forced into exile, who in their many wanderings had for- 
got the Attic tongue. Others held here in unseemly 
slavery and trembling under their masters' caprices I 
set free. These things I did by the power of law, uniting 
force with justice, and I fulfilled my promise. Ordinances, 
too, alike for the bad and the good I enacted, adapting 
straightforward justice to every case. Had another than 
I, some evil-minded, avaricious man, seized the goad, 
he would not have restrained the commons; for had I 
willed what would then have pleased this opposing party, 
or again what their foes devised for them, this state would 
now be bereft of many men. Therefore gathering courage 
from every source, I stood at bay like a wolf amid a pack 
of dogs." . . . 

IV. The Tyranny 



Usurpation 
of Peisis- 
tratus, 
560 B.C. 

Arist. Const. 
Ath. 14. 



Peisistratus appeared to be most devoted to the popular 
cause, and had won a brilliant reputation in the war with 
Megara. Having wounded himself, he persuaded the 
people, on the supposition that his injuries were inflicted 
by political enemies, to grant him a guard for his person. 
Taking the club-bearers, as they were called, he conspired 
with them against the state, and seized the Acropolis 
in the archonship of Corneas, in the thirty-second year 
after (Solon's legislation). The story is told that when 
Peisistratus was asking for a guard, Solon opposed him, 



Peisistratus 131 

saying that he was wiser than some and braver than Greece, 70 f.; 
others — wiser than those who failed to see that Peisis- World, 135 f. 
tratus was aiming at the tyranny, and braver than those 
who knew it but kept silent. As he accomplished nothing 
with words, he brought out his armor and placed it before 
his door, saying he had aided his country to the best of his 
ability (for he was at this time a very old man) and asking 
the rest now to perform this service. But Solon accom- 
plished nothing by his exhortations at that crisis. Peisis- 
tratus, however, assuming the government, managed 
affairs constitutionally rather than despotically. Before 
his supremacy was firmly rooted, the party of Megacles, His first 
joining in friendship with that of Lycurgus, expelled him turn. ** fe ~ 
in the sixth year after his first establishment, in the archon- 
ship of Hegesias. But in the twelfth year afterward There is great 
Megacles, harassed by sedition, again made overtures InThTdates^ 
of peace to Peisistratus on condition that the latter should of th f se 

^ events. 

take the daughter of the former in marriage. Megacles 
brought him back in an exceedingly old-fashioned and 
simple way. Spreading a report that Athena was restor- The demes 
ing Peisistratus, he found a tall, handsome woman — of hadno 
the Paeanian deme as Herodotus says, whereas others official exist- 

J ' ence till after 

describe her as a Thracian flower-girl, named Phye, of Cleisthenes 

Colly tus — and dressing her up in imitation of the goddess, some 2 existed 

he brought her in along with Peisistratus, the latter seated f s Jjj-^! 

in the chariot with the woman at his side, while the people ized villages. 
of the city on their knees received them with adoration. 

Thus was brought about the first restoration. He went His second 

again into exile about the seventh year after his return; return, 
for he did not maintain himself long, but because he was 

unwilling to treat the daughter of Megacles as his wife, Arist. ib. 15. 
and consequently feared a combination of the two fac- 
tions, he secretly withdrew from the country. First he 



132 



Ath 



ens 



The people 
deprived of 
their arms. 



Constitu- 
tional gov- 
ernment. 



Arist. Const. 
Ath. 16. 



colonized a place called Rhaecelus about the Thermaic 
Gulf; then he crossed over to the neighborhood of Mount 
Pangaeus. Making money in that locality and hiring 
soldiers, he came to Eretria in the eleventh year. Then 
for the first time he attempted to recover his supremacy 
by force, with the cooperation of the Thebans, of Lygdamis 
of Naxos, and of the knights who had the government 
at Eretria. Gaining a victory at Pallene and thus re- 
covering his authority, he deprived the people of their 
arms and firmly established his despotism. Then taking 
possession of Naxos, he appointed Lygdamis governor. 
The people he deprived of their arms in the following 
manner. Holding a review of the citizens under arms at 
the Theseum, he attempted to address them, but spoke 
in a low voice; and when they declared they could not 
hear him, he bade them come up near the gateway of the 
Acropolis in order that his voice might sound louder. 
While he was passing the time making his speech, persons 
appointed to the task took the arms and locking them 
in a building near the Theseum, came and made a sign to 
Peisistratus. He finished his speech and then told them 
about the arms, bidding them not wonder or be dejected 
but go and attend to their private affairs, as he would 
himself manage all public matters. 

Such was the origin of the tyranny of Peisistratus and 
such were its vicissitudes. He, as has been said, con- 
ducted the government moderately and more in the char- 
acter of a statesman than of a tyrant. In general he was 
humane and unusually mild and forgiving to wrong-doers, 
and especially he lent money to the needy for use in their 
labors, in order that they might gain a livelihood by agri- 
culture. This he did for two reasons, that they might not 
pass their time in the city but be scattered throughout 



Rural Policy ; Personal Character 133 

the country, and that, being moderately well off and oc- 
cupied with their private concerns, they might have neither 
the desire nor the leisure to attend to public affairs. At 
the same time the cultivation of the land resulted in the 
increase of his revenues, for he collected a tenth of the 
produce. For this reason, too, he established judges .to 
go throughout the demes, and he himself often journeyed 
into the country to inspect it and to settle disputes. While 
Peisistratus was on one of these expeditions, it is said that 
he had the adventure with the man on Hymettus who 
was cultivating the so-called tax-free farm. Seeing a The "tax- 
certain man digging and working among the rocks with a 
stake, he bade his servant ask what was produced in the 
place. The other replied, "Only aches and pains, and of 
these aches and pains Peisistratus must have his tenth." 
The man answered without knowing him; but Peisistratus, 
pleased with his candor and his love of work, made him 
exempt from all taxes. 

In all other respects he absolutely refrained from dis- His charac- 
turbing the masses by his government, and he always 
preserved peace and maintained quiet; so that the tyranny 
of Peisistratus was often spoken of proverbially as the age 
of Cronos (golden age) ; for afterward when his sons had 
succeeded to the throne, the result was that the govern- 
ment became much harsher. Most praiseworthy of all 
his qualities was his popular and kindly character; for 
in general he chose to manage all affairs in accordance 
with the laws, giving himself no advantage, and once 
when cited for murder before the council of the Areopagus, Ancient 
he presented himself with a view to making his defence, iv. i.'c. 
but the accuser failed through fear to come forward. 
Hence he remained in power for a long time, and whenever 
he was banished, he easily recovered his position; for many 



J 34 



Athens 



His death; 
his children. 



Arist. Const. 
Ath. 17. 



Here is a mis- 
conception of 
the writer. 
It was law- 
ful for an 
Athenian to 
marry a for- 
eign woman 
till 451 B.C.; 
Greece, 178 f.; 
Ancient 
World, 200. 



of the nobles and commons were pleased witH his rule. 
The former he attached to himself by his associations with 
them, the latter by aid in their private affairs. Through- 
out these times the laws of the Athenians concerning 
tyrants were mild, and particularly the one referring to 
the establishment of tyranny. The law runs thus: " These 
are the ancestral usages of the Athenians. If anyone 
attempts to make himself tyrant, or if anyone has a hand 
in establishing a tyranny, let him and his gens be dis- 
franchised." 

Peisistratus accordingly grew old in office and died of 
illness in the archonship of Philoneos, having lived thirty 
three years after the time when he first became tyrant, 
but having actually remained in power nineteen years; 
for during the rest of the time he was in exile. Evidently 
therefore they speak foolishly who assert that Peisistratus 
was a youthful favorite of Solon and a general in the war 
with Megara for the possession of Salamis. Their ages 
do not agree, if one reckons the length of their respective 
lives and the dates of their deaths. After the decease 
of Peisistratus his sons secured the power and conducted 
the administration in the same way. Of his lawful wife 
he had two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, and two of his 
Argive wife, Iophon and Hegesistratus, surnamed Thet- 
talus. Peisistratus had married from Argos the daughter 
of an Argive named Gorgilus. This lady, Timonassa, 
had formerly been the wife of the Cypselid Archinus of 
Ambracia. Thence arose his alliance with the Argives, 
a thousand of whom fought on his side in the battle of 
Pallene, having been brought by Hegesistratus. Some 
say he married the Argive woman after his first banish- 
ment, others while he was in possession of his authority. 

Because of their greater reputation and age Hipparchus 



Hippias and Hipparchus 135 

and Hippias were rulers of the state, while Hippias the Accession of 

Hippias. 

elder, who was naturally statesmanlike and intelligent, 
was at the head of the government. Hipparchus, however, 
was youthful and amorous, and fond of literature. He 
it was who invited to Athens Anacreon and Simonides 
and the rest of the poets. [But Thettalus was much This sen- 

. . , tence seems 

younger, and was bold and insolent m manner.] He was an interpok- 

the source of all their misfortunes. In love with Har- tlon ' 

modius but failing to win his affection, he could not re- Greece, 71; 

strain his anger. On all occasions he showed himself World, 136-8. 

bitter; and finally when the sister of Harmodius was about 

to act as basket-carrier at the Panathenaea, he forbade it, 

at the same time accusing Harmodius of being effeminate. 

Hence it resulted that in their rage Harmodius and Theconspir- 

acv. 
Aristogeiton did the deed with the help of many others. 

At the Panathenaea they were watching Hippias on the 

Acropolis (as he chanced to be sacrificing while Hipparchus 

was arranging the procession), and seeing one of the 

participants in the plot talking in a friendly manner with 

Hippias, they believed he was informing against them. 

Wishing accordingly to accomplish something before their 

arrest, they descended, and beginning action before the 

others, they killed Hipparchus while he was arranging 

the procession near the Leocorium. Thus they ruined 

the whole plot. Harmodius was immediately killed by 

the guards, and Aristogeiton, arrested afterward, died by 

prolonged torture. Under constraint he accused many 

who belonged by birth to the nobility and were friends 

of the tyrants. For they w r ere unable forthwith to find a 

clue to the plot. . . . 

He accused the tyrants' friends, purposely as the demo- Accusations. 

cratic writers say, in order that the tyrants might commit 

impiety and at the same time be weakened by the de- 



136 



Athens 



The tyranny 

becomes 

harsh. 

lb. 19. 



Fall of the 
tyranny. 



struction of innocent persons and their own friends, 
though as some say, he did not deceive but actually in- 
formed against his accomplices. Lastly as he was unable, 
whatever he did, to find death, he proposed to denounce 
many others, and after persuading Hippias to give him 
his right hand as a pledge, he grasped it, at the same time 
reproaching Hippias with having offered his hand to the 
murderer of his brother. In this way he so exasperated 
Hippias that the latter could not restrain his wrath but 
drew his dagger and killed him. 

From these events it resulted that the tyranny became 
far harsher; for in taking vengeance for his brother and in 
slaying and banishing many citizens, Hippias became 
distrustful and embittered toward all. About the fourth 
year after the death of Hipparchus, as his affairs in the 
city were in a bad condition, he undertook the fortification 
of Munychia with the idea of changing his residence to 
that place. 

While engaged in this work he was expelled by Cle- 
omenes, king of the Lacedaemonians, inasmuch as oracles 
were continually given to the Laconians to the effect that 
they should abolish the tyranny. The reason for the 
oracles is as follows. The exiles, led by Alcmeonidae, 
were unable by their own means to effect their return. 
In all their other undertakings they failed and particularly 
when they fortified Leipsydrium on Mount Parnes within 
the country of Attica. Here, joined by certain men from 
the city, they were besieged by the tyrants, wherefore 
after their disaster people used to sing in skolia: — 

"Alas, Leipsydrium, traitor to your friends, how good the men you 
slew, how brave in fight, how nobly born! They showed in that fray 
their illustrious parentage." 

Having failed in everything else, they contracted to 



Fall of the Tyranny 137 

build the temple at Delphi. This transaction provided TheLace- 
them well with the means of gaining the aid of the Laco- war against 
nians. Whenever, accordingly, the Lacedaemonians con- l e tyrant - 
suited the oracle, the Pythia always replied that they must 
set Athens free, till she succeeded in persuading the 
Spartans notwithstanding that they were guest-friends 
of the Peisistratidae. There was added a no small cause 
of the undertaking on the part of the Laconians in the 
alliance existing between the Argives and the Peisistra- 
tidae. In the first place they despatched Anchimolus with 
an army by sea. He was beaten and slain with the aid of 
Cineas the Thessalian, who came with a thousand cavalry. 
Enraged at the event, they sent by land with a larger force 
Cleomenes the king, who after defeating the Thessalian 
horsemen in their endeavor to prevent his invasion of 
Attica, drove Hippias into the so-called Pelargic wall, and 
besieged him there with the aid of the Athenians. This 
event took place in the archonship of Harpactides, after 
they had held the tyranny about seventeen years since 
the death of their father, and including his reign, forty 
nine years in all. 



V. Cleisthenes and the Democracy 

„_ . 111, 1. . * 1 Cleisthenes 

When the tyranny had alien, a sedition arose between and Isag- 

Isagoras, son of Teisander, a friend of the tyrants, and ^o^rc^ 

Cleisthenes of the gens of the Alcmeonidae. Beaten by Arist. 

means of the clubs, Cleisthenes attached the commons 2 ™ s ' 

to himself by promising the franchise to the masses. Isa- Because they 

goras, now proving inferior in strength, called to his aid piously slain 



Cleomenes, his guest-friend, and persuaded him to expel ere o^Cyion; 

the pollution; for it was the common opinion that the Greece, 46; 

.. ., , _. y-,, . 1 Ancient 

Alcmeonidae were under a curse. Thereupon Cleisthenes World, 128 f. 



i38 



Athens 



Constitu- 
tional re- 
forms, 208 
B.C. 

Arist. Const. 
Ath. 21. 

Greece, 81-4; 
Ancient 
World, 
138-41. 



The demes 
and the 
tribes. 

lb. 21. 



with a few persons secretly withdrew from the country, 
while Cleomenes proceeded to expel as polluted seven 
hundred Athenian families. Having accomplished this 
object, he attempted to dissolve the council and to make 
Isagoras and three hundred of his partisans masters of the 
state. But as the council opposed and the multitude 
gathered, Cleomenes and Isagoras with their party took 
refuge in the Acropolis. The commons thereupon en- 
camped and besieged them two days; on the third day 
they permitted Cleomenes and all with him to depart 
under a truce, but recalled Cleisthenes and the rest of 
the exiles. Now that the commons had become masters 
of the state, Cleisthenes was their leader and champion: 
for the Alcmeonidae were perhaps the chief cause of the 
tyrants' expulsion and were almost always at sedition 
with them. . . . 

For these reasons the people trusted Cleisthenes. On 
that occasion, as he was leader of the people in the fourth 
year after the overthrow of the tyrants, in the archonship 
of Isagoras, in the first place he distributed all the people 
among ten tribes in place of four, with the object of inter- 
mixing them in order that more might have a share in the 
franchise. Hence arose the saying, "Do not discriminate 
between the % tribes" with reference to those who wished 
to scrutinize the gentes. Then he constituted the council 
of five hundred in place of four hundred, fifty from each 
tribe instead of a hundred as formerly. The reason for 
his not distributing the people among twelve tribes was his 
desire to avoid the division into the existing trittyes. . . . 

The country he divided by demes into thirty parts, 
ten about the city, ten in the paralia, ten in the midland; 
and calling these parts trittyes, he assigned three by lot 
to each tribe in such a way that every tribe might have 



Tribes and Denies 139 

a trittys in each of the three local sections. The inhabit- 
ants of the respective demes he made demesmen of one 
another in order that they might not expose the new citi- 
zens by calling them after the names of their fathers, 
but that they might be named after their demes. Hence 
the Athenians continue to call themselves by the names 
of their demes. He instituted demarchs with the same Naucraries; 
function as the earlier naucrars, for he made the demes 
to take the place of the naucraries. Some of the demes 
he named after localities, others after their founders; for 
all the localities did not preserve the names of their found- 
ers. Their gentes and phratries and priesthoods he per- Gentes and 
mitted them severally to keep according to ancestral 
usage. As eponyms of the tribes he appointed the ten 
whom the Pythia had selected from the hundred founders 
nominated to her. 

Through these changes the constitution became far The govern- 
more democratic than that of Solon. The fact is that the more demo- 
tyranny had abolished some of the laws of Solon through cratlc - 
failure to observe them, and Cleisthenes in his effort to lb. 22. 
win the populace enacted new regulations, among which 
was the law of ostracism. It was not however till the 
fifth year after his legislation that, in the archonship of 
Hermocreon, they drew up for the Council of Five Hundred The Council 

...... , . of Five 

the oath which the memoers continue even now to swear. Hundred. 
Then they began to elect the generals by tribes, one from 
each tribe, whereas the commander of the entire army was The gen- 
the polemarch. 

STUDIES 

1. What was the condition of the majority of Athenian citizens 
before Solon? How did the change from monarchy to aristocracy 
affect the offices? What place in the government was held by the 
Council of the Areopagus? 



140 Athens 



2. What were the chief features of the timocracy? Compare it in 
detail with the preceding aristocracy. 

3. What brought Solon into prominence? What conditions are 
described by his poem? How do his poems compare as sources with 
Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians? Where did Aristotle prob- 
ably get his knowledge of Solon? What debts did he abolish? How 
were his laws to be preserved? What was now to be the place of the 
Council of the Areopagus? What features of Solon's government 
were new and what were continued from earlier time? Why did 
Solon go abroad? What does he say of his own achievements? 

4. How did Peisistratus make himself tyrant? Narrate his exiles 
and returns. How did he finally establish his power? What was the 
character of his rule? From the story of the tax-free farm what do we 
learn as to the condition of the poorest farmers? Describe the char- 
acter of Peisistratus. Compare the rule of his sons. What led to the 
overthrow of the tyranny? What part in the event was taken by 
Cleisthenes? 

5. What were the aims of Cleisthenes and Isagoras? Does the 
former seem to have been at heart a democrat? What arrangement 
of demes and tribes did he make, and with what objects? Compare 
his form of government with that established by Solon. Which 
deserves the greater credit as a reformer? 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE POETS AND THE PHILOSOPHERS 

FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE EARLY FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 



I. A War-Song 

By Callinus 

Sit ye in quiet how long? Stir up the fierce spirit within you; 
Have ye no feeling of shame, youths, for the dwellers around? 
Why thus remiss? Do ye think ye are sitting in blissful contentment 
Peace given, while dread war holds all our dear native land? 
Now in the moment of death hurl your last spear at the foe! 
Honored is he and esteemed who fights in the foremost of lancers, 
Guarding his country, his home, guarding his dear wedded wife, 
Fighting with foes; for death comes but once, and whenever it may be. 
Fate cuts the thread of our life. Each must go quick to the front, 
Grasping his spear in his hand, and under his shield his untrembling 
Heart pressing, panting for fight, mingling in deadliest fray. 
Fate hath decreed that from death there shall be by no prudence 

avoiding; 
Doomed are all mortals to die, saving no sons of the gods. 
Often the din of the battle, the hurtling of lances escaping, 
Sees man the terror of death stalking into his home. 
Weaklings are dear to no state, nor in death by the people lamented; 
Warriors the great and the small mourn when they face their fair 

doom; 
Longing intense fills all hearts in the land for the stout-minded hero 
Dying in liberty's cause; living they hold him divine. 
Just like a tower of defence in the eyes of the people appearing, 
W T orks he the deeds of a host, striving alone in his might. 

II. Tyrt^eus 

Noble it is to fall a valiant man in the front line of war- 
riors battling for the fatherland, but of all things most 

141 



Callinus of 
Ephesus 
wrote this 
poem to 
rouse his 
country- 
men against 
the barbarous 
Cimmerians, 
who assailed 
them. 

The metre of 
the transla- 
tion — elegiac 
pentameter — 
is that of 
the original. 

The poem 
breathes 
military fire. 



142 The Poets and the Philosophers 



The fight is 
for home and 
country. 



Those who 
fail in the 
war will be 
forced into 
miserable 
exile. 

Greece, 62 f. 
A ncient 
World, 119. 



Let the 
brave fight 
in front! 



The poet 
addresses all 
the Spartans 
as descend- 
ants of the 
hero Hera- 
cles; Ancient 
World, 92. 



grievous to leave one's city and rich farm and to wander 
begging with a dear mother, an aged father, little children 
and wedded wife. One driven about by need and hate- 
ful penury will seem a foe to all among whom he comes. 
Every kind of dishonor and evil will pursue him. If for 
such a wanderer there is no care or respect or heed or pity, 
then let us fight with heart for this our country; let us die 
for children's sake with no stint of life. Come, youths, 
to battle, firm standing by comrade's side; begin not 
shameful flight and panic. Do not by retreat abandon 
the old whose knees no more are supple; indeed it is a 
shameful thing for an elder to fall in battle in front of 
youths — the aged man with white head and hoary beard, 
breathing out his valiant soul in the very dust, covering 
bloody wounds with his own hands, — his person stripped — 
a sight to stir up pity and revenge. But to the young, 
all this is fitting while yet remains the brilliant bloom of 
lovely youth, admired of men, adored of women while 
he lives; and when he has fallen in the front — still beauti- 
ful. Then with firm poise with both feet fixed on earth, 
teeth biting lip, let each man stand his ground! 

Ye of the race of Heracles unconquered, be brave; 
Zeus turns not away in disfavor. Fear not nor dread a 
mass of men; let each bring shield quick into the front 
rank, holding his own life hateful but death's black fates 
dear as sunbeams. For well ye know the war-god's actions 
all-annihilating, that cause the tears to flow; well have ye 
learned the wrath of troublous war. Of fleeing and pur- 
suing oft have ye told, young men, and of both have ye 
pushed into surfeit. Now let those who dare, side by side, 
advance as champions into closest fray; thus fewer die 
and they save the host behind; but when some are cowards, 
all bravery has departed. No one could in words recount 



Tyrtaeus; Alcasus 143 

the ills that befall a man who suffers cowardice. Horrible 
it is to cleave the back of a fugitive in hostile war, pitiable 
a body lying in the dust, the back thrust through with 
spear-point. With firm poise, then, with both feet fixed T . his passage 
on earth, teeth biting lip, let each man stand his ground, esting in- 
covering with broad shield his hips and legs beneath, his concerning 
shoulders, breast and vitals. With right hand let him equipments 

' . and manner 

wield a mighty lance and toss above the head his fearful of fighting. 
crest. Let the timid learn to do knightly deeds, and stand 
not off with shield beyond the range of darts; but come to 
close fight and with long lance or sword-thrust slay his 
foeman. Pressing foot on foot, shield on shield, crest on 
crest, helmet on helmet, grapple your man, with hand on 
sword hilt or long spear. And ye light troops here and 
there, beneath your shields crouched, pelt them with heavy 
stones, hurl with polished darts, but keep you near the 
phalanx. 



III. Selections from Alc^eus 
winter 

Zeus hails. The streams are frozen. In the sky The metre of 

A mighty storm is raging high. ^Alcak™' 

And now the forest thick, the ocean hoar, named after 

Grow clamorous with the Thacian tempest's roar. Alcaeus; that 

of the trans- 



lation is 
But drive away the storm, and make the fire somewhat 

Hotter and pile the logs and faggots higher; similar 

Pour out the tawny wine with lavish hand, Greece, oo, 

And bind about thy head a fleecy band. World \ 

It ill befits to yield the heart to pain. 
What profits grief, or what will sorrow gain? 

O Bacchus, bring us wine, delicious wine, 

And sweet intoxication, balm divine. 



144 The Poets and the Philosophers 



THE ARMORY 



This poem 
Alcaeus wrote 
to encourage 
his comrades 
in a civil war. 



The spacious hall in brazen splendor gleams, 

And all the house in Ares' honor beams. 
The helmets glitter; high upon the wall 

The nodding plumes of snowy horse's hair, 
Man's noblest ornaments, wave over all; 

And brightly gleaming brazen greaves are there, 
Each hanging safe upon its hidden nail, 
A sure defence against the arrowy hail. 

And many coats of mail, and doublets stout, 

Breast-plates of new-spun linen, hollow shields, 
Well-worn and brought from foe-abandoned fields, 

And broad Chalcidian swords are stacked about. 
Bear well in mind these tools of war, they make 
Easy and sure the work we undertake. 



A newly dis- 
covered frag- 
ment of 
Alcaeus, trans- 
lated by 
Edmonds, 
Classical 
Review, xxiii. 
72-4. 

The scene is 
a window 
opening on a 
harbor 
in the fore- 
noon of a hot 
summer day. 
Alcaeus urges 
his friend 
to come out 
for a sail. 

The friend 
is too lazy 
to budge. 



ALCLEUS PROPOSES A MORNING SAIL 

Mix no more into the great bowl. Why toilest so, 
when I tell thee that never will I have thee waste the day 
from dawn onward in drunkenness and song? O why do we 
forbear to use the sea, suffering the winter-cool freshness 
of the morn to pass like a drunken sleep? If we would 
but quickly go aboard, and take the rudder in our grasp, 
and loose the ship from her moorings, turning the sailyard 
to front the breeze, then merrier should we be and light 
of heart, and 'twould be as good work as a right long 
draught of wine. But thou, linking one idle hand in an- 
other over thy robe, sayest, As for me, bring myrrh 
for my head; for I am little pleased with what this fellow 
putteth into song of his. Never think thou troublest my 
soul, thou wild clamorer, thou roarest like a great fire. 



Sappho 



*45 



IV. Selections from Sappho 



MNASIDICA, A SOMETIME PUPIL OF SAPPHO 

Atthis, our beloved Mnasidica dwells in far-off Sardis, 
but she often sends her thoughts hither, recalling how once 
we used to live in the days when she thought thee like a 
glorious goddess, and loved thy song the best. Now she 
shines among the dames of Lydia, as after sunset the stars 
that are about her, when she spreads her light o'er briny 
sea and eke o'er flowery field, while the good dew lies on 
the ground and the roses revive and the dainty anthrysc 
and the honey lotus with all its blooms. And oftentimes 
when our beloved, wandering abroad, calls to mind her 
gentle Atthis, the heart devours her tender breast with the 
pain of longing; and she cries aloud for us to come thither; 
and what she says we know full well, thou and I, for Night, 
the many-eared, calls it to us across the dividing sea. 



A newly dis- 
covered frag- 
ment of Sap- 
pho, trans- 
lated by Ed- 
monds, Clas- 
sical Review, 
xxiii. qq ff. 
Sappho ad- 
dresses 
Atthis, a 
present pupil, 
regarding 
Mnasidica, 
a former 
pupil, who 
has married 
a Lydian 
grandee. 

Telepathy. 



HYMN TO APHRODITE 



Glittering-throned, immortal Aphrodite, 
Wile-weaving daughter of high Zeus, I pray thee. 
Tame not my soul with heavy woes; dread mistress, 
Nay, nor with anguish. 

But hither come, if erst in the days departed 
Thou didst incline and listendst to my crying, 
And from thy father's palace, down descending 
Cam'st with the golden 

Chariot yoked. Thee fair, swift-flying sparrows, 
Over black earth multitudinously fluttering, 
Pinion on pinion through middle ether 
Down from heaven hurried; 



Translated 
by Symonds. 

The stanza 
is Sapphic, 
named after 
Sappho; 
the transla- 
tion has the 
metre of the 
original. 

Sappho; 
Greece, 90; 
Ancient 
World, 154. 



146 The Poets and the Philosophers 

Quickly they came like light; and thou, blest lady. 
Smiling with clear, undying eyes didst ask me 
What was the woe that troubled me and wherefore 
Now I had called thee; 

What I fain would have to assuage the torment 
Of my frenzied soul; and whom now, to please thee, 
Must persuasion lure to thy love, and who now, 
Sappho, hath wronged thee? 



Come to me now, too, and from tyrannous sorrow 
Free me; and all things that my soul desires to 
Have done, do for me, Queen, and let thyself now, too, 
Be my great ally! 



V. Pindar 

hieron's victory in the horse-race at olympia 

Most splen- Best is Water of all, and Gold as a flaming fire in the 

are the amGS night shineth eminent amid lordly wealth ; but if of prizes 

Olympic. m tfie games thou art fain, O my soul, to tell, then, as thou 

Pindar, must search in the void firmament by day for no bright 

Olympian, 1. . . • 1 , n 

star more quickening than the sun, so neither shall we 
Ancient. find any games greater than the Olympic whereof to utter 

World, 154 our vo i ce j f or hence cometh the glorious hymn and en- 
tereth into the minds of the skilled in song, so that they 
celebrate the son of Cronos, when to the rich and happy 
Hieron is hearth of Hieron they are come ; for he wieldeth the sceptre 
Syracuse. °f justice in Sicily of many flocks, culling the choice fruits 
Pherenicus °^ a ^ kinds °f excellence; and with the flower of music 
("Victor") i s he made splendid, even such strains as we sing blithely 

is the horse *\ . ' G J 

at the table of a friend. 

Take from the peg the Dorian lute, if in any wise the 



tnat won; 
Pisa is here 
used for 



Olympia; the glory of Pherenicus at Pisa hath swayed thy soul unto 
by Olympia. glad thoughts, when by the banks of Alpheus he ran, 



stadium 
at Olympia. 



An Olympic Victory 147 

and gave his body ungoaded in the course, and brought 
victory to his master, the Syracusans' king, who delighteth 
in horses. . . . 

Now the good that cometh of to-day is ever sovereign Hieron a fit 
unto every man. My part it is to crown Hieron with an long 60 
equestrian strain in ^Eolian mood; and sure I am that no 
host among men that are now shall I ever glorify in sound- 
ing labyrinths of song more learned in the learning of 
honor and withal with more might to work thereto. A 
god hath guard over thy hopes, O Hieron, and taketh care The hill of 
for them with a peculiar care; and if he fail thee not, I overlooks the 
trust that I shall again proclaim in song a sweeter glory 
yet, and find thereto in words a ready way, when to the 
fair-shining hill of Cronos I am come. Her strongest- 
winged dart my Muse hath yet in store. 

Of many kinds is the greatness of men ; but the highest \ l \ this P° em 

Hieron is 

is to be achieved by kings. Look not thou for more than called a king. 
this. May it be thine to walk loftily all thy life, and mine 
to be the friend of winners in the games, winning honor 
for my art among Hellenes everywhere. 



VI. Thales 

He asserted that water was the principle of all things, The first 
and that the world had life, and was full of spirits: they scientist. 
say, too, that he was the original definer of the seasons Diogenes 
of the year, and that it was he who divided the year into r/Sw?6. 
three hundred and sixty-five days. And he never had 
any teacher except during the time that he was in Egypt, 
and associated with the priests. Hieronymus also says Greece, 94 f.; 
that he measured the Pyramids; watching their shadows, World, 154 f. 
and calculating when they were of the same size as those 
were. . . . 



148 The Poets and the Philosophers 

An unpracti- It is said that once he was led out of his house by an 

pher. old woman for the purpose of observing the stars, and he 

Diog. Laert. 8. fell into a ditch and bewailed himself, on which the old 

woman said to him — "Do you, O Thales, who can not see 

what is under your feet, think that you shall understand 

what is in heaven?". . . 

His wise And the following are quoted as sayings of his: — "God 

sayings. 

is the most ancient of all things, for he has no birth: the 
lb. 9. world is the most beautiful of all things, for it is the work 

of God: place is the greatest of things, for it contains all 
things: intellect is the swiftest of things, for it runs through 
all things; necessity is the strongest of things, for it rules 
everything: time is the wisest of things, for it finds out 
everything." He said also that there was no difference 
between life and death. "Why, then," said some one to 
him, "do you not die?" "Because," said he, "it makes no 
difference." A man asked him which was made first, 
night or day, and he replied, "Night was made first by 
one day." Another man asked him whether a man who 
did wrong, could escape the notice of the Gods. "No, 
not even if he thinks wrong," said he. . . . When he was 
asked what was very difficult, he said, "To know one's 
self." And what was easy, "To advise another." What 
was most pleasant? " To be successful." To the question, 
"What is the divinity?" he replied, "That which has 
neither beginning or end." When asked what hard thing 
he had seen, he said, "An old man a tyrant." When the 
question was put to him how a man might most easily 
endure misfortune, he said, "If he saw his enemies more un- 
fortunate still!" When asked how men might live most 
virtuously and most justly, he said, "If we never do our- 
selves what we blame in others." To the question, "Who 
is happy, he made answer, "He who is healthy in his 






Ancient 
World, 155. 



Pythagoras 149 

body, easy in his circumstances, and well-instructed in 
mind." 

VII. Pythagoras 

The Pythagoreans called music philosophy. They Hiss theory 
maintained that the world subsisted by harmony, and 
considered every kind of music to be the work of the gods. IO> 
It is thus that the muses are regarded as deities, and Apollo cr eece> 95; 
has the name of President of the Muses, and all poetry 
is divine, being conversant about the praises of the gods. 
Thus also they ascribe to music the formation of manners, 
as everything which refines the mind approximates to the 
power of the gods. 

And as he was a young man, and devoted to learning, His travels 

he quitted his country, and got initiated into all the Diogenes 

Grecian and barbarian sacred mysteries. Accordingly 

he went to Egypt, on which occasion Polycrates gave him 3- 

a letter of introduction to Amasis; and he learned the There is some 

Egyptian language, as Antiphon tells us, in his treatise his travelling 

on those men who have been conspicuous for virtue, and 

he associated with the Chaldaeans and with the Magi. 

Afterward he went to Crete, and in company with Epi- Initiated into 
. , ... . _ . , • -r- tne Oriental 

menides, he descended into the Idaean cave, and in Egypt mysteries, 
he entered into the holiest parts of their temples, and /&. 
learned all the most sacred mysteries that relate to their 
gods. Then he returned again to Samos; and finding his 
country reduced under the absolute dominion of Poly- 
crates, he set sail, and fled to Croton in Italy. And there, 
having given laws to the Italians, he gained a very high He founds a 
reputation, together with his scholars, who were about 
three hundred in number, and governed the republic in a 
most excellent manner; so that the constitution was very 
nearly an aristocracy. 



Laertius, 
Pythagoras, 



so exten- 
sively. 



souls 

lb. 4. 



150 The Poets and the Philosophers 

He believes Heraclides Ponticus says, that he was accustomed to 
migration of speak of himself in this manner: that he had formerly 
been ^Ethalides, and had been accounted the son of 
Hermes; and that Hermes had desired him to select any 
gift he pleased except immortality. He accordingly re- 
quested that, whether living or dead, he might preserve 
the memory of what had happened to him. While, there- 
fore, he was alive he recollected everything; and when he 
was dead, he retained the same memory. And at a sub- 
sequent period he passed into Euphorbus, and was wounded 
by Menelaus. And while he was Euphorbus, he used to 
say that he had formerly been ^Ethalides; and that he 
had received as a gift from Hermes the perpetual trans- 
migration of his soul, so that it was constantly transmi- 
grating and passing into whatever plants or animals it 
pleased; and he had also received the gift of knowing and 
recollecting all that his soul had suffered in the lower 
world, and what sufferings too are endured by the rest of 
the souls. . . . 



He recog- 
nizes an old 
friend. 

Xenophanes, 
quoted by 
Diog. Laert. 
Pythag. 15. 



They say that once, as passing by he saw 

A dog severely beaten, he did pity him, 

And spoke as follows to the man who beat him:- 

"Stop now, and beat him not; since in his body, 

Abides the soul of a dear friend of mine, 

Whose voice I recognized as he was crying." 



STUDIES 



1. What reasons does Callinus give for bravery in battle? What 
is his idea of the working of fate? 

2. Should the Spartans fail in war, what according to Tyrtaeus 
would be their fate? From this passage describe the offensive and 
defensive arms of the Spartans. Describe their military formation 
and manner of fighting. 

3. Mention some of the subjects on which Alcaeus wrote. How 



Studies 151 

did he like to pass a winter evening? What weapons filled the ar- 
mory? Did the Greeks enjoy the same things as we do? 

4. What idea do we get of the relation between Sappho and her 
pupils? between her country and Lydia? What does Sappho ask of 
Aphrodite? What impression do you get of her poetry from these two 
selections? 

5. Write in your own words the meaning of this selection from 
Pindar. How does he describe Hieron? What did he think of his 
own poetry? 

6. What scientific discoveries are attributed to Thales? What 
do the anecdotes aim to teach? What light do his wise sayings 
throw on his character? 

7. What importance did Pythagoras attach to music? Why 
should we not accept everything Diogenes tells us as to the travels of 
this philosopher? What account did he give of his soul before it had 
entered his body? 



CHAPTER XV 



THE IONIC REVOLT 



Aristagoras 
determines 
to revolt, 
499 B.C. 

Herodotus v. 
36. 

On Aristago- 
ras and Histi- 
aeus; Greece, 
no f.; An- 
cient World, 
160. 



Hecataeus 
was a geogra- 
pher and 
writer of 
Genealogies, 
chiefly mythi- 
cal. 



Aristagoras, 
in combina- 
tion with the 
Persians, had 
just failed 
in an attempt 
to conquer 
Naxos; 
Ancient 
World, 160. 



I. The Beginning 

He (Aristagoras) took counsel therefore with his parti- 
sans, declaring to them both his own opinion and the 
message from Histiaeus; and while all the rest expressed 
an opinion to the same effect, urging him namely to make 
revolt, Hecataeus, the writer of genealogies, urged first 
that they should not undertake war with the king of the 
Persians, describing all the nations over whom Darius 
was ruler, and his power; and when he did not succeed 
in persuading him, he counselled next that they should 
manage to make themselves masters of the sea. Now 
this, he continued, could not come to pass in any other 
way, so far as he could see, for he knew that the force of 
the Milesians was weak; but if the treasures should be 
taken which were in the temple at Branchidae, which 
Croesus the Lydian dedicated as offerings, he had great 
hopes that they might become masters of the sea; and by 
this means they would not only themselves have wealth 
at their disposal, but the enemy would not be able to carry 
the property off as plunder. Now these treasures were of 
great value, as I have shown in the first part of the history. 
This opinion did not prevail; but nevertheless it was re- 
solved that they should revolt, and that one of them should 
sail to My us, to the force which had returned from Naxos 
and was then there, and endeavor to seize the commanders 
who sailed in the ships. 

152 



Overthrow of the Tyrants 153 

So Iatragoras was sent for this purpose and seized by Beginning of 
craft Oliatus the son of Ibanollis of Mylasa, and Histi- 
aeus the son of Tymnes of Termera, and Coes the son of ' v ' ° 7 
Erxander, to whom Darius had given Mytilene as a gift, Ancimf 11 ' 6 ' 
and Aristagoras the son of Heracleides of Cyme, and many World, 160-4. 
others; and then Aristagoras openly made revolt and de- 
vised all that he could to the hurt of Darius. And first 
he pretended to resign the despotic power and give to 
Miletus equality, in order that the Milesians might be 
willing to revolt with him; then afterward he proceeded 
to do this same thing in the rest of Ionia too; and some 
of the despots he drove out, but those whom he had taken 
from the ships which had sailed with him to Naxos, these 
he surrendered, because he desired to do a pleasure to 
their cities, delivering them over severally to that city from 
which each one came. 

Now the men of Mytilene, as soon as they received Fall of the 
Coes into their hands, brought him out and stoned him tyrants, 
to death; but the men of Cyme let their tyrant go, and so 
also most of the others let theirs go. Thus then the ty- 
rants were deposed in the various cities; and Aristagoras 
the Milesian, after having deposed them, bade each people 
appoint commanders in their several cities, and then him- 
self set forth as an envoy to Lacedaemon; for in truth it 
was necessary that he should find out some powerful 
alliance. . . . 

II. The Attempt to Win Allies 

However, Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus, arrived Aristagoras 

.0 \ ., ^, . • 1 j. 1 at Sparta, 

at Sparta while Cleomenes was reigning; and accordingly winter of 

with him he came to speech, having, as the Lacedaemo- h<5" 4 v 8 49 . 

nians say, a tablet of bronze, on which was engraved a 

map of the whole Earth, with all the sea and all the rivers. 



154 The Ionic Revolt 

And when he came to speech with Cleomenes he said to 
him as follows: 

"Marvel not, Cleomenes, at my earnestness in coming 
hither, for the case is this. That the sons of the Ionians 
should be slaves instead of free is a reproach and a grief 
most of all indeed to ourselves, but of all others most to 
you, inasmuch as ye are the leaders of Hellas. Now there- 
fore I entreat you by the gods of Hellas to rescue from 
slavery the Ionians, who are your own kinsmen. And 
ye may easily achieve this, for the barbarians are not 
valiant in fight; whereas ye have attained to the highest 
point of valor in war; and their fighting is of this fashion, 
namely with bows and arrows and a short spear, and they 
go into battle wearing trousers and with caps on their 
heads. Thus they are easily conquered. Then again they 
who occupy that continent have good things in such 
quantity as not all the other nations of the world together 
possess; first gold, then silver and bronze and embroidered 
garments and beasts of burden and slaves; all of which 
ye might have for yourselves, if ye so desired. And the 
nations, moreover, dwell in such order one after the other 
as I shall declare: — the Ionians here; and next to them the 
Lydians who not only dwell in a fertile land, but are also 
exceedingly rich in gold and silver," — and as he said this 
he pointed to the map of the Earth, which he carried with 
him engraved upon the tablet, — "and here next to the 
Lydians," continued Aristagoras, "are the Eastern Phryg- 
ians, who have the greatest number of sheep and cattle 
of all people that I know, and also the most abundant 
crops. Next to the Phrygians are the Cappadocians, 
whom we call Syrians; and bordering upon them are the 
Cilicians, coming down to this sea, in which lies the island 
of Cyprus here; and these pay five hundred talents to 



On the Road to Susa 155 

the king for their yearly tribute. Next to these Cilicians 
are the Armenians, whom thou mayest see here, and these 
also have great numbers of sheep and cattle. Next to 
the Armenians are the Matienians occupying this country 
here; and next to them is the land of Cissia here, in which 
land by the banks of the river Choaspes is situated that 
city of Susa where the great king has his residence, and 
where the money is laid up in treasuries. After ye have 
taken this city ye may then with good courage enter into 
a contest with Zeus in the matter of wealth. Nay, but 
can it be that ye feel yourselves bound to take upon you 
the risk of battles against Messenians and Arcadians and 
Argives, who are equally matched against you, for the 
sake of land which is not much in extent nor very fertile, 
and for confines which are but small, though these peoples 
have neither gold nor silver at all, for the sake of which 
desire incites one to fight, and to die, — can this be, I say, 
and will ye choose some other way now, when it is possible 
for you easily to have the rule over all Asia? " Aristagoras 
spoke thus, and Cleomenes answered him saying: "Guest- 
friend from Miletus, I defer my answer to thee till the 
day after tomorrow." 

Thus far then they advanced at that time; and when To ° distant 
, • i 1 1 r 1 111 anundertak- 

tne appointed day arrived for the answer, and they had ing for the 

come to the place agreed upon, Cleomenes asked Arista- partans * 

goras how many days' journey it was from the sea of the Ib ' s °* 

Ionians to the residence of the king. Now Aristagoras, 

who in other respects acted cleverly and imposed upon him 

well, in this point made a mistake; for whereas he ought 

not to have told him the truth, at least if he desired to 

bring the Spartans out to Asia, he said in fact that it was a 

journey up from the sea of three months; and the other 

cutting short the rest of the account which Aristagoras 



i56 



The Ionic Revolt 



The princess 
Gorgo lays 
down the 
moral law. 

lb. 51. 



Spartan 
women; 
Greece, 58, 
59; Ancient 
World, 114, 
115. The 
story of 
Gorgo is 
interesting 
in view of the 
respect paid 
to women at 
Sparta. 



Aristagoras 
at Athens, 
499-498 B.C. 

Hdt. v. 97. 



had begun to give of the way, said, " Guest-friend from 
Miletus, get thee away from Sparta before the sun has 
set; for thou speakest a word which sounds not well in the 
ears of the Lacedaemonians, desiring to take them a journey 
of three months away from the sea." 

Cleomenes accordingly having so said went away to 
his house; but Aristagoras took the suppliant's branch 
and went to the house of Cleomenes; and having entered 
in as a suppliant, he bade Cleomenes send away the child 
and listen to him: for the daughter of Cleomenes was 
standing by him, whose name was Gorgo, and this it 
chanced was his only child, being of the age now of eight 
or nine years. Cleomenes however bade him say that 
which he desired to say, and not to stop on account of the 
child. Then Aristagoras proceeded to promise him money, 
beginning with ten talents, if he would accomplish for 
him that for which he was asking; and when Cleomenes 
refused, Aristagoras went on increasing the sums of money 
offered, until at last he had promised fifty talents, and at 
that moment the child cried out, "Father the stranger will 
do thee hurt, if thou do not leave him and go." Cleomenes 
then, pleased by the counsel of the child, departed into 
another room, and Aristagoras went away from Sparta 
altogether, and had no opportunity of explaining any 
further about the way up from the sea to the residence of 
the king. . . . 

While they (the Athenians) had these thoughts and had 
been set at enmity with the Persians, at this very time 
Aristagoras the Milesian, ordered away from Sparta by 
Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, arrived at Athens; for 
this was the city which had most power of all the rest 
besides Sparta. And Aristagoras came forward before 
the assembly of the people and said the same things as 



Aristagoras at Athens 157 

he had said at Sparta about the wealth which there was in 
Asia, and about the Persian manner of making war, how 
they used neither shield nor spear and were easy to over- 
come. Thus I say he said, and also he added this, namely Ancient 

, r ., • , . r • World, 81 f. 

that the Milesians were colonists from the Athenians, 
and that it was reasonable that the Athenians should 
rescue them, since they had such great power; and there 
was nothing which he did not promise, being very urgent 
in his request, until at last he persuaded them; for it 
would seem that it is easier to deceive many than one, 
seeing that, though he did not prove able to deceive Cleo- 
menes the Lacedaemonian by himself, yet he did this 
to thirty thousand Athenians. The Athenians, then, I 
say, being persuaded, voted a resolution to despatch twenty 
ships to help the Ionians, and appointed to command them 
Melanthius, one of their citizens who was in all things 
highly reputed. These ships proved to be the beginning 
of evils for the Hellenes and the barbarians. . . . 

Aristagoras meanwhile, when the Athenians had ar- The Greeks 
rived with twenty ships, bringing with them also live against 
triremes of the Eretrians, who joined the expedition not ?!£ bc 
for the sake of the Athenians but of the Milesians them- 
selves, to repay them a debt which they owed; for the Hdt. v. 99. 
Milesians in former times had borne with the Eretrians 
the burden of all that war which they had with the Chal- 
cidians, at the time when the Chalcidians on their side were 
helped by the Samians against the Eretrians and Milesians. 
When these, I say, had arrived and the other allies were 
on the spot, Aristagoras proceeded to make a march upon 
Sardis. On this march he did not go himself, but remained 
at Miletus, and appointed others to be in command of 
the Milesians, namely his brother Charopinus and of the 
other citizens one Hermophantus. 



lb. 101. 



158 The Ionic Revolt 

The capture With this force then the Ionians came to Ephesus; and 
leaving their ships at Coresus in the land of Ephesus, they 
went up themselves in a large body, taking Ephesians 
to guide them in their march. So they marched along by 
the river Cayster, and then when they arrived after cross- 
ing the range of Tmolus, they took Sardis without any 
resistance, all except the citadel; but the citadel Ar- 
taphernes himself saved from capture, having with him a 
considerable force of men. 

The burning From plundering the city after they had taken it they 
were prevented by this: — the houses in Sardis were mostly 
built of reeds, and even those of them which were of brick 

Greece, 113 f.; had their roofs thatched with reeds; of these houses one 

World, 161 f. was set on fire by a soldier, and forthwith the fire going 
on from house to house, began to spread over the whole 
town. So then as the town was on fire, the Lydians and 
all the Persians who were in the city being cut off from 
escape, since the fire was prevailing in the extremities 
round about them, and not having any way out of the 
town, flowed together to the market-place and to the 
river Pactolus, which brings down gold-dust for them from 
Tmolus, flowing through the middle of their market-place, 
and then runs out into the river Hermus, and this into the 
sea. To this Pactolus, I say, and to the market-place the 
Lydians and the Persians gathered themselves together, and 
were compelled to defend themselves. The Ionians, then, 
seeing some of the enemy standing on their defence and 
others in great numbers coming on to the attack, were 
struck with fear and retired to the mountain called 
Tmolus, and afterward at nightfall departed to go to 
their ships. 



Last Years of the Revolt 



i59 



III. The Siege and Destruction of Miletus 

The Persians, then, being conquerors of the Ionians 
in the sea-fight, besieged Miletus by land and sea, under- 
mining the walls and bringing against it all manner of 
engines; and they took it completely in the sixth year from 
the revolt of Aristagoras, and reduced the people to slav- 
ery; so that the disaster agreed with the oracle which had 
been uttered with reference to Miletus. 

For when the Argives were inquiring at Delphi about 
the safety of their city, there was given to them an oracle 
which applied to both, that is to say, part of it had refer- 
ence to the Argives themselves, while that which was 
added afterward referred to the Milesians. The part of it 
which had reference to the Argives I will record when I 
reach that place in the history, but that which the Oracle 
uttered with reference to the Milesians who were not 
there present, is as follows: 

"And at that time, O Miletus, of evil deeds the contriver, 
Thou shalt be made for many a glorious gift and a banquet; 
Then shall thy wives be compelled to wash the feet of the long- 
haired, 
And in Didyma then my shrine shall be tended by others." 

At the time of which I speak, these things came upon the 
Milesians, since most of the men were killed by the Per- 
sians, who are long-haired, and the women and children 
were dealt with as slaves; and the temple at Didyma, with 
the sacred building and the sanctuary of the Oracle, was 
first plundered and then burnt. Of the things in this 
temple I have made mention frequently in other parts of 
the history. 
After this the Milesians who had been taken prisoner 



Miletus be- 
seiged. 

Herodotus vi. 



This naval 
battle was 
fought off 
Lade; Ancient 
World, 162; 
Greece, 114. 

An oracle. 
Hdt. vi. ig. 



160 The Ionic Revolt 

The fate of we re conducted to Susa; and kin? Darius did to them 

the Mile- 

sians. no other evil, but settled them upon the sea called Eryth- 

ib. 20. raean, in the city of Ampe, by which the Tigris flows when 

it runs out into the sea. Of the Milesian land the Persians 

themselves kept the surroundings of the city and the plain, 

but the heights they gave to the Carians of Pedasa for a 

possession. 

Effect on the When the Milesians suffered this treatment from the 
Athenians. 

Persians, the men of Sybaris, who were dwelling in Laos 

and Scidros, being deprived of their own city, did not re- 
pay like with like; for when Sybaris was taken by the men 
of Croton, the Milesians all from youth upwards shaved 
their heads and put on great mourning; for these cities 
were more than all others of which we know bound to- 
gether by ties of friendship. Not like the Sybarites 
were the Athenians; for these made it clear that they were 
grieved at the capture of Miletus, both in many other 
ways and also by this, that when Phrynichus had com- 
posed a drama called the "Capture of Miletus" and had 
put it on the stage, the body of spectators fell to weeping, 
and the Athenians moreover fined the poet a thousand 
drachmas on the ground that he had reminded them of 
their own calamities; and they ordered also that no one 
in future should represent this drama. 

STUDIES 

1. What motive had Aristagoras to revolt (cf. Greece, 11 1; Ancient 
World, 160)? What was the advice of Hecataeus? Why were the 
tyrants now deposed? 

2. Why did Aristagoras go to Sparta for aid? By what arguments 
did he try to persuade Cleomenes? What had he to say of the Per- 
sians? Why did he give the king a lesson in geography? Why were 
the Lacedaemonians unwilling to attempt the conquest of Asia? 
What part had Gorgo in the negotiations, and what idea do we get 



Studies 161 

from it of the Spartan girl? Why were the Athenians more easily 
persuaded? What does Herodotus think of the war? Describe the 
houses of Sardis. 

3. How did the Persians punish Miletus for revolt? What is the 
meaning of the oracle? Are we certain that it was given before the 
event? How did the fall of Miletus affect the Athenians? Where 
did Herodotus probably get his information as to these events, and 
how trustworthy is it? 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE WAR BETWEEN GREECE AND PERSIA 



Darius plans 
to subdue 
Hellas. 

Herodotus vi. 
94. 

After the 
destruction 
of Sardis 
Darius had 
ordered a 
servant to ad- 
monish him 
daily to "re- 
member the 
Athenians." 

Mardonius 
had failed 
in an ex- 
pedition 
a-gainst 
Greece; 
Greece, 118 f.; 
A ncient 
World, 166 f. 

Athens 
sends to 
Sparta for 
aid. 

Hdt. vi. 105. 

The Persians 
had already- 
taken Ere- 
tria; Ancient 
World, 167. 



I. The Invasion or Datis and Artaphernes 

So the Athenians were at war with the Eginetans; and 
meanwhile the Persian was carrying forward his design, 
since he was put in mind ever by his servant to remember 
the Athenians, and also because the sons of Peisistratus 
were near at hand and brought charges continually against 
the Athenians, while at the same time Darius himself 
wished to take hold of this pretext and subdue those na- 
tions of Hellas which had not given him earth and water. 
Mardonius then, since he had fared miserably in his ex- 
pedition, he removed from his command; and appointing 
other generals to command, he despatched them against 
Eretria and Athens, namely Datis, who was a Mede by 
race, and Artaphernes the son of Artaphernes, a nephew 
of the king; and he sent them forth with the charge to 
reduce Athens and Eretria to slavery and to bring back 
the slaves into his presence. . . . 

First of all, while they were still in the city the generals 
sent off to Sparta a herald, namely Pheidippides an Athe- 
nian, a runner of long day-courses and one who practised 
this as his profession. With this man, as Pheidippides 
himself said and as he made report to the Athenians, 
Pan chanced to meet by Mount Parthenion, which is 
above Tegea; and calling aloud the name of Pheidippides, 
Pan bade him report to the Athenians and ask for what 
reason they had no care of him, though he was well 

162 



Athens Prepares for Battle 163 

disposed to the Athenians and had been serviceable to 
them on many occasions before that time, and would be so 
also yet again. Believing that this tale was true, the Athe- 
nians, when their affairs had now been prosperously settled, In a cave on 
established under the Acropolis a temple of Pan, and in declivity, 
consequence of this message they propitiate him with 
sacrifice offered every year and with a torch-race. 

However at that time, the time namely when he said Pheidip- 
that Pan appeared to him, this Pheidippides having been peals tothe 
sent by the generals was in Sparta on the next day after ^ a a C n S dsBmo " 
that on which he left the city of the Athenians; and when 
he had come to the magistrates he said: " Lacedaemonians, Hdt. vi. 106. 
the Athenians make request of you to come to their help 
and not to allow a city most anciently established among On Mara- 
the Hellenes to fall into slavery by means of barbarians; I20 -2; An- * 

for even now Eretria has been enslaved and Hellas has Cl ™t World, 

167-70. 

become the weaker by a city of renown." He, as I say, 
reported to them that with which he had been charged 
and it pleased them well to come to help the Athenians; 
but it was impossible for them to do so at once, since they 
did not desire to break their law; for it was the ninth day 
of the month and on the ninth day they said they would 
not go forth, nor until the circle of the moon should be full. 

Now the opinions of the generals of the Athenians were The Athen- 
divided, and the one party urged that they should not deliberate. S 
fight a battle, seeing that they were few to fight with the Hdt ^ 
army of the Medes, while the others, and among them 
Miltiades, advised that they should do so; and when they 
were divided and the worse opinion was like to prevail, At this time 
then, since he who had been appointed by lot to be pole- mar ch was 
march of the Athenians had a vote in addition to the ten appointeTby 
(for in old times the Athenians gave the polemarch an tot; p. 128 
equal vote with the generals) and at that time the pole- 



164 The War Between Greece and Persia 

march was Callimachus of the deme of Aphidnae, to him 
came Miltiades and said as follows: "With thee now it 
rests, Callimachus, either to bring Athens into slavery, or 
by making her free to leave behind thee for all the time 
that men shall live a memorial such as not even Har- 
modius and Aristogeiton have left. For now the Atheni- 
Andent ans have come to a danger the greatest to which they have 

ever come since they were a people; and on the one hand, 
if they submit to the Medes, it is determined what they 
shall suffer, being delivered over to Hippias, while on the 
other hand, if this city shall gain the victory it may become 
the first of the cities of Hellas. How this may happen and 
how it comes to thee of all men to have the decision of 
these matters, I am now about to tell. Of us the generals, 
who are ten in number, the opinions are divided, the one 
party urging that we fight a battle and the others that we 
do not fight. Now if we do not, I expect that some great 
spirit of discord will fall upon the minds of the Athenians 
and so shake them that they shall go over to the Medes; 
but if we fight a battle before any unsoundness appear 
in any part of the Athenian people, then we are able to 
gain the victory in the fight, if the gods grant equal con- 
ditions. These things then all belong to thee, and depend 
upon thee; for if thou attach thyself to my opinion, thou 
hast both a fatherland which is free and a native city 
which shall be the first among the cities of Hellas; but if 
thou choose the opinion of those who are earnest against 
fighting, thou shalt have the opposite of those good things 
of which I have told thee." 
The gen- Thus speaking Miltiades gained Callimachus to his 

to fight. side; and the opinion of the polemarch being added, it was 

Hdt. vi. no. thus determined to fight a battle. After this, those gen- 
erals whose opinion was in favor of fighting, as the turn 



The Battle of Marathon 165 

of each one of them to command for the day came round, 
gave over their command to Miltiades; and he, accepting 
it, would not yet however bring about a battle, until his 
own turn to command had come. 
And when it came round to him, then the Athenians The order of 

battle. 

were drawn up for battle in the order which here follows : — 
On the right wing the polemarch Callimachus was leader 
(for the custom of the Athenians was this, that the pole- 
march should have the right wing); and he leading, next 
after him came the tribes in order as they were numbered 
one after the other, and last were drawn up the Plataeans 
occupying the left wing; for ever since this battle, when the 
Athenians offer sacrifices in the solemn assemblies which 
are made at the four-yearly festivals, the herald of the 
Athenians prays thus, ''that blessings may come to the 
Athenians and to the Plataeans both." On this occasion 
however, when the Athenians were being drawn up at 
Marathon, something of this kind was done: — their army 
being made equal in length of front to that of the Medes, 
came to be drawn up in the middle with a depth of but 
a few ranks, and here their army was weakest, while each 
wing was strengthened with numbers. 

And when they had been arranged in their places and The charge, 
the sacrifices proved favorable, then the Athenians were ib. 112. 
let go, and they set forth at a run to attack the barbarians. 
Now the space between the armies was not less than eight 
furlongs; and the Persians seeing them advancing to the 
attack at a run, made preparations to receive them; and 
in their minds they charged the Athenians with madness 
which must be fatal, seeing that they were few and yet 
were pressing forward at a run, having neither cavalry 
nor archers. Such was the thought of the barbarians; 
but the Athenians, when all in a body they had joined 



1 66 The War Between Greece and Persia 



The Persian 
route. 

lb. 113. 



The slain. 
lb. 114. 



Cynegeirus 
was a 
brother of 
^Eschylus, 
the great 
dramatic 
poet. 

Attempt to 

surprise 

Athens. 

lb. us. 



in combat with the barbarians, fought in a memorable 
fashion; for they were the first of all the Hellenes about 
whom we know who went to attack the enemy at a run, 
and they were the first also who endured to face the 
Median garments and the men who wore them, whereas 
up to this time the very name of the Medes was to the 
Hellenes a terror to hear. 

Now while they fought in Marathon, much time passed 
by; and in the centre of the army, where the Persians 
themselves and the Sacans were drawn up, the barbarians 
were winning, — here, I say, the barbarians had broken 
up the ranks of their opponents and were pursuing them 
inland, but on both wings the Athenians and the Plataeans 
severally were winning the victory; and being victorious 
they left that part of the barbarians which had been routed 
to fly without molestation; and bringing together the two 
wings they fought with those who had broken their centre, 
and the Athenians were victorious. So they followed after 
the Persians as they fled, slaughtering them, until they 
came to the sea; and then they called for fire and began 
to take hold of the ships. 

In this part of the work was slain the polemarch Cal- 
limachus after having proved himself a good man, and 
also one of the generals, Stesilaus the son of Thrasylaus, 
was killed; and besides this Cynegeirus the son of Eupho- 
rion, while taking hold there of the ornament at the stern 
of a ship, had his hand cut off with an axe and fell; and 
many others also of the Athenians who were men of note 
were killed. 

Seven of the ships the Athenians got possession of in 
this manner, but with the rest the barbarians pushed off 
from land, and after taking the captives from Eretria 
off the island where they had left them, they sailed around 



The Athenians Win 



167 



Sunion, purposing to arrive at the city before the Athe- 
nians. An accusation became current among the Athenians 
to the effect that they formed this design by contrivance 
of the Alcmeonidas; for these, it was said, having concerted 
matters with the Persians, displayed to them a shield when 
they had now embarked in their ships. 

These then, I say, were sailing round Sunion; and mean- 
while the Athenians came to the rescue back to the city 
as speedily as they could, and they arrived there before 
the barbarians came; and having arrived from the temple 
of Heracles at Marathon they encamped at another 
temple of Heracles, namely that which is in Cynosarges. 
The barbarians however came and lay with their ships 
in the sea which is off Phaleron, (for this was then the sea- 
port of the Athenians); they anchored their ships, I say, 
off this place, and then proceeded to sail back to Asia. 

In this fight at Marathon there were slain of the bar- 
barians about six thousand four hundred men, and of the 
Athenians a hundred and ninety and two. Such was the 
number which fell on both sides. . . . 



The shield is 
said to have 
been hoisted 
on the sum- 
mit of Mount 
Pentelicus, 
which over- 
looks the 
battlefield. 

The attempt 
is checked. 

lb. 116. 



Losses in 
men. 

lb. 117. 



II. Greek Preparations for Another Invasion 

When those Hellenes who had the better mind about 
Hellas came together to one place, and considered their 
affairs and interchanged assurances with one another, 
then deliberating together they thought it well first of all 
things to reconcile the enmities and bring to an end the 
wars which they had with one another. Now there were 
wars engaged between others also, and especially between 
the Athenians and the Eginetans. After this, being in- 
formed that Xerxes was with his army at Sardis, they 
determined to send spies to Asia to make observation of 



A session of 
the Hellenic 
council, 
winter of 
481-480 B.C. 

Herodotus 
vii. 145. 
Ancient 
World, 172 f. 
On the coun- 
cil (congress) 
of the Pelo- 
ponnesian 
League, 
see Ancient 
World, 121. 



1 68 The War Between Greece and Persia 

Greece, 137 U the power of the king; and moreover they resolved to send 
World, 179. envoys to Argos to form an alliance against the Persian, 
and to send others to Sicily to Gelon the son of Deino- 
menes and also to Corcyra, to urge them to come to the 
assistance of Hellas, and others again to Crete; for they 
made it their aim that if possible the Hellenic race might 
unite in one, and that they might join all together and 
act toward the same end, since dangers were threatening 
all the Hellenes equally. Now the power of Gelon was 
said to be great, far greater than any other Hellenic 
power. 
Greek spies When they had thus resolved, they reconciled their 
enmities and then sent first three men as spies to Asia. 
Hdt. vii. 146. These having come to Sardis and having got knowledge 
about the king's army, were discovered, and after having 
been examined by the generals of the army were being 
led off to die. For these men, I say, death had been de- 
termined; but Xerxes, being informed of this, found fault 
with the decision of the generals and sent some of the 
spearmen of his guard, enjoining them, if they should find 
the spies yet alive, to bring them to his presence. So 
having found them yet surviving, they brought them into 
the presence of the king; and thereupon Xerxes, being 
told for what purpose they had come, commanded the 
spearmen to lead them round and to show them the whole 
army both foot and horse, and when they should have 
had their fill of looking at these things, to let them go un- 
hurt to whatsoever land they desired. 
Xerxes is Such was the command which he gave, adding at the 

his own same time this saying, namely that if the spies had been 

superiority. put to death, the Hellenes would not have been informed 
lb. 147. beforehand of his power, how far beyond description it 

was; while on the other hand by putting to death three 



The Confidence of Xerxes 



169 



men they would not very greatly have damaged the enemy; 
but when these returned back to Hellas, he thought it 
likely that the Hellenes, hearing of his power, would de- 
liver up their freedom to him themselves, before the ex- 
pedition took place which was being set in motion; and 
thus there would be no need for them to have the labor 
of inarching an army against them. This opinion of his 
is like his manner of thinking at other times; for when 
Xerxes was in Abydos, he saw vessels which carried corn 
from the Pontus sailing out through the Hellespont on 
their way to Egina and the Peloponnese. Those then who 
sat by his side, being informed that the ships belonged 
to the enemy, were prepared to capture them, and were 
looking to the king to see when he would give the word; 
but Xerxes asked about them whither the men were sail- 
ing, and they replied: "Master, to thy foes, conveying to 
them corn": he then made answer and said, "Are we not 
also sailing to the same place as these men, furnished with 
corn as well as with other things necessary? How then 
do these wrong us, since they are conveying provisions 
for our use?" 

III. The Battle of Salamis 



From Susa, from Ecbatana they went, 

From the ancient Cissian fortress were they sent- 

Seamen, riders upon horses, 

Steady-tramping footman-forces 

Close-marshalled in the battle-armament. 



Marshalling 
the Persian 
host. 

^schylus, 
Persians. 



Amistres, Artaphernes, led them on: 
Megabates and Astaspes forth are gone, 
Persian kings and princes royal, 
And the Great King's vassals loyal, 
Chiefs that weld his thousand armies into one. 



Com- 
manders. 



170 The War Between Greece and Persia 



Archers and 
oarsmen. 



Lydians. 



All Asia. 



Bridging the 
Hellespont. 



The king. 



There are bow- triumphant archers, there are riders of the steed, 
Men terrible to look on, men dread in battle-deed 

In the grim determination of a spirit hot for war. . . . 
There be they that mighty Nile sent forth, the nation-nursing 

flood— . . . 
The marshmen they that row the rafts that skim the river-slime, 
Men cunning in the oarsman's craft, a multitude untold. 

And the dainty-living Lydians followed with their battle-throng, 
They which people all the mainland; and Mitrogathes the strong 
And Arcteus led them onward, each a satrap and a king. 
There were gold-abounding Sardians, and their chariot-riders pressed 
Swiftly on, with chariot-horses yoked by two, by three abreast — 
A sight of terror to the eyes that marked their marshalling. 

Came the borderers on Tmolus the hallowed, all aglow 
Around the neck of Hellas the bondage-yoke to throw: 
There were Tharubis and Mardon, stubborn anvils of the spear; 
There were Mysian javelin-hurlers: gold-abounding Babylon 
Sent forth a mingled multitude in long lines sweeping on, 
Riders on the sea-steeds, trusty archers void of fear. 

And the people of all Asia, wieiders of the scimitar, 
Have followed the dread summons of the Great King to the war. 
Oh, the flower of all the Persian realm hath vanished from our gaze : 
And all the land of Asia which hath fostered them doth sigh; 
With the passion of the yearning of bereavement doth she cry; 
And the wives and mothers shudder as they count the weary days. 

For the army of the king, for the city-wasting host 

Long since hath passed the channel of the fronting neighbor-coast; 

For they linked the rafts together with the cables cunningly, 

So that Hellas' strait was spanned, 

Land was riveted to land, 

And man had cast a yoke upon the wild neck of the sea! 

And myriad-peopled Asia's King, a battle-eager lord, 

From utmost east to utmost west sped on his countless horde 

In unnumbered squadrons marching, in fleets of keels untold, 

Knowing none dared disobey, 

For stern overseers were they 
Of the godlike king begotten of the ancient Race of Gold. 



Archers against Spearmen 171 

And flashing from his eyes the deadly dragon's steel-blue glance 

On Assyrian battle-car, 

With unnumbered men of war 

He hurls the war-god of the bow on the heroes of the lance. 

Heroes? — none is so heroic as to stem that warrior-flood! 

Not their strongest dams shall bide 

Such resistless ocean-tide: — 

Nay, Persia's valiant myriads shall in no wise be withstood. 

Yet — God sendeth strong delusions, and what mortal may evade Foreboding 

them? of faUure - 

And who with foot light-leaping may spring clear of the snare? 

For Ate smiles alluring men, until she hath betrayed them Ate, reckless 

Amidst her net : none breaks its meshes, once entangled there. infatuation, 

which brings 

For the Gods' doom all-controlling decreed this long ago — 

' Persia's sons shall win renown 

In dashing towers down, 

In the clash of charging horsemen, and in cities' overthrow.* 

Yet they learned to look unquailing on the highways of the sea, 

When the flails of tempest smite, 

And its meadows blossom white, 

Grasping slender reins of army- wafting galleys fearlessly. . . . 

Atossa — Is there found with them so vast a multitude for war's Dialogue. 
array? Atossa is 

Chorus — Yea, such armed host as manv an evil once to Media mother of 
, . Xerxes; the 

wrought. Chorus is 

Atos. Have they aught worth warrior- warding — homes with store composed of 

of wealth fuH-fraught ? JStjlS 

Chor. Silver have they, yea, a very fountain, treasure of their land, of the realm 

Atos. And their weapons — are they cunning archers straining bow during the 

in hand? sence. 

Chor. Nay, but foot to foot in fight they close with spear and clash- They are 
, . u speaking 

ing shield. about the 

Atos. And their shepherd — who is lord and king of these in fighting Greeks. 

field? The Greek 

Chor. No man's servants do they name them, they are subject to government. 

none. . . . 



172 The War Between Greece and Persia 



The battle. 

The messen- 
ger is a 
Persian, who 
brings news 
of the battle 
to the queen 
and chorus. 

Greece, 132-4; 
Ancient 
World, 175-7. 



The deception 
here men- 
tioned was 
the work of 
Themisto- 
cles. 

^Eschylus re- 
frains from 
mention- 
ing Greeks by 
name. 



Messenger 
'Twas this began all our disaster, Queen: 
A demon or fell fiend rose — who knows whence? — 
For from the Athenian host a Hellene came, 
And to thy son, to Xerxes, told this tale, 
That when the mirk of black night should be come, 
The Greeks would not abide, but, leaping straight 
Upon the galley thwarts, this way and that 
In stealthy flight would seek to save their lives. 
Soon as he heard, discerning neither guile 
In that Greek, nor the jealousy of heaven, 
This word to all his captains he proclaims, 
That, when the sun should cease to scorch the earth, 
And gloom should fill the hallowed space of sky, 
In three lines should they range their throng of ships 
To guard each pass, each seaward-surging strait; 
And others should enring all Aias' Isle : 
Since, if the Greeks should yet escape fell doom, 
And find their ships some privy path of flight, 
Doomed to the headsman all these captains were. 
Thus spake he, in spirit over-confident, 
Knowing not what the Gods would bring to pass. 
With hearts obedient, in no disarray, 
Then supped our crews, and every mariner 
To the well-rounded rowlock lashed his oar. 
But when the splendor faded of the sun, 
And night came on, each master of the oar 
A-shipboard went, and every man-at-arms. 
Then rank to rank of long ships passed the word: 
And, as was each appointed, so they sailed. 
So all night long the captains of the ships 
Kept all the sea-host sailing to and fro. 
And night passed by, yet did the Hellene host 
Essay in no wise any secret flight. 
But when the day by white steeds chariot-borne, 
Radiant to see, flooded all earth with light, 
First from the Hellenes did a clamorous shout 
Ring for a triumphant chant; and wild and high 
Pealed from the island rock the answering cheer 



The Battle of Salamis 173 

Of Echo. Thrilled through all our folks dismay 

Of baffled expectation; for the Greeks 

Not as for flight that holy paean sang, 

But straining battleward with heroic hearts. 

The trumpet's blare set all their lines aflame. 

Straightway with chiming dip of dashing oars 

They smote the loud brine to the timing cry, 

And suddenly flashed they all full into view. 

Foremost their right wing seemly-ordered led 

In fair array; next, all their armament 

Battleward swept on. Therewithal was heard 

A great shout — 'On ye sons of Hellas, on! 

Win for the home-land freedom! — freedom win 

For sons, wives, temples of ancestral Gods, 

And old sires' graves! This day are all at stake!' 

Yea, and from us low thunder of Persian cheers 

Answered — no time it was for dallying! 

Then straightway galley dashed her beak of bronze 

On galley. 'Twas a Hellene ship began 

The onset, and shore all the figure-head 

From a Phoenician: captain charged on captain. 

At first the Persian navy's torrent-flood 

Withstood them; but when our vast fleet was cramped 

In strait-space — friend could lend no aid to friend, — 

Then ours by fangs of allies' beaks of bronze 

Were struck, and shattered all their oar-array; 

While with shrewd strategy the Hellene ships 

Swept around, and rammed us, and upturned were hulls 

Of ships; — no more could one discern the sea, 

Clogged all with wrecks and limbs of slaughtered men : 

The shores, the rock-reefs, were with corpses strewn. 

Then rowed each bark in fleeing disarray, 

Yea, every keel of our barbarian host. 

They with oar-fragments and with shards of wrecks 

Smote, hacked, as men smite tunnies, or a draught 

Of fishes; and a moaning, all confused 

With shrieking, hovered wide o'er that sea-brine 

Till night's dark presence blotted out the horror. 

That swarm of woes, yea, though tor ten days' space 



174 The War Between Greece and Persia 

I should rehearse could I not tell in full. 
Yet know this well, that never in one day 
Died such a host, such tale untold, of men. 



STUDIES 

i . Who were the sons of Peisistratus, and what was their motive in 
urging Darius to war against Greece? What illustrations of the 
religious beliefs of Athenians and Lacedaemonians do we find in this 
passage? Why did Athens appeal to Sparta for aid? Explain the 
official position of the polemarch and his relation to the ten generals? 
Who were Harmodius and Aristogeiton? By what arguments did 
Miltiades persuade Callimachus to vote for battle? What contrib- 
uted most to Athenian victory at Marathon? What were the re- 
spective losses, and how can the difference be accounted for? 

2. Write out definitely the acts of the council of the Hellenic 
League (481-0 B.C.). How did Xerxes treat the Greek spies, and 
why? In what ways did he show confidence in his superiority to the 
Greeks? 

3. Write in your own language /Eschylus' description of the Persian 
armament. What peoples were represented in it? What is said of 
its power? What information does the chorus give Atossa as to 
Hellenic warfare and government? How did the Greeks deceive 
Xerxes as to their own intentions? What plan did Xerxes adopt? 
Write in your own language Eschylus' account of the battle. What 
is your impression of his poetry? Is there any reason for believing 
the selections given in this chapter more reliable than those of the 
preceding chapter? 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE DELIAN CONFEDERACY AND THE ATHENIAN 
EMPIRE 

I. The Walls of Athens are Rebuilt 

Immediately after the great war, he (Themistocles) be- Themis- 
gan to rebuild and fortify the city. In order to succeed in wits the 
this, Theopompus says that he bribed the Spartan ephors partans - 
into laying aside opposition, but most writers say that he themistocles 
outwitted them by proceeding to Sparta nominally on an *9- 
embassy. Then when the Spartans complained to him that Greece, 143-5; 
Athens was being fortified and when Poliarchus came ex- WoHd! 182 f. 
pressly from ^Egina to charge him with it, he denied it, and Theopompus 
bade them send commissioners to Athens to see whether it was a his " 

•i'ii ,.. P ,.._ tonan who 

was true, wishing both to obtain time for the fortifications lived in the 
to be built, and also to place these commissioners in the [u^B.c! 1 
hands of the Athenians, as hostages for his own safety. 
His expectations were realised; for the Lacedaemonians, 
on discovering the truth, did him no harm, but dissembled 
anger and sent him away. After this he built Peiraeus He builds 
as he perceived the excellence of its harbors, and was 
desirous to turn the whole attention of the Athenians to 
naval pursuits. . . . Themistocles did not " stick Peiraeus 
on to Athens" as Aristophanes the comic poet said, 
so much as he made the city dependent upon Peiraeus, 
and the land dependent upon the sea. By this means he 
transferred power from the nobles to the people, because 
sailors and pilots became the real strength of the state. 

17s 



176 



The Delian Confederacy 



Aristeides. 

Aristotle, 

Constitution 
of the Athe- 
nians, 23. 

Objects of 
the con- 
federacy. 

Thucydides, 
i. 96. 

The main 
object, how- 
ever, was 
defence 
against 
Persia. 



The assess- 
ment by 
Aristeides. 

Plutarch, 
Aristeides, 23. 



Ancient 
World, 184 f. 



n. The Delian Confederacy is Formed 

It was Aristeides who brought about the defection of 
the Ionians from the Lacedaemonian alliance, finding his 
opportunity in the circumstance that the people of Laconia 
were in ill repute because of Pausanias. 

Thus the Athenians by the good-will of the allies, who 
detested Pausanias, obtained the leadership. They im- 
mediately fixed which of the cities should supply money 
and which of them ships for the war against the barba- 
rians, the avowed object being to compensate themselves 
and the allies for their losses by devastating the king's 
country. Then was first instituted at Athens the office 
of Hellenic treasurers, who received the tribute, for so the 
impost was termed. ... 

As they wished each city to be assessed to pay a reason- 
able sum, they asked the Athenians to appoint Aristeides 
to visit each city, learn the extent of its territory and reve- 
nues, and fix upon the amount which each was capable 
of contributing according to its means. Although he was 
in possession of such a power as this — the whole of Greece 
having as it were given itself up to be dealt with at his 
discretion — yet he laid down his office a poorer man than 
when he accepted it, but having completed his assessment 
to the satisfaction of all. As the ancients used to tell of the 
blessedness of the golden age, even so did the states of 
Greece honor the assessment made by Aristeides, calling 
the time when it was made, fortunate and blessed for 
Greece, especially when no long time afterward it was 
doubled, and subsequently trebled. The money which 
Aristeides proposed to raise amounted to four hundred and 
sixty talents; to which Pericles added nearly a third part, 
for Thucydides tells us that, at the commencement of the 



From Confederacy to Empire 177 

Peloponnesian war, the Athenians received six hundred 
talents a year from their allies. After the death of Pericles, 
the popular orators gradually raised the sum total to thir- 
teen hundred talents. It was not so much that the money 
was required for the expenses of a long and costly war, 
as that these men had accustomed the people to largesses 
of money, dramatic representations, and the erection of 
statues and temples. 

III. Change in the Constitution of the 
Confederacy 

At first the allies were independent and deliberated The confed- 
in a common assembly under the leadership of Athens, formed into 
But in the interval between the Persian and Peloponnesian an em P ire - 
wars, by their military success and by policy in dealing Thuc - K 97 - 
with the barbarian, with their own rebellious allies and 
with the Peloponnesians who came across their path from 
time to time, the Athenians made immense strides in power. 
I have gone out of my way to speak of this period because Greece, 152 f.; 
the writers who have preceded me treat either of Hellenic world, 186 f. 
affairs previous to the Persian invasion or of that invasion 
itself; the intervening portion of history has been omitted 
by all of them, with the exception of Hellanicus; and he, A historian 
where he has touched upon it in his Attic history, is very shortly be- 
brief, and inaccurate in his chronology. The narrative ides. lhucyd ~ 
will also serve to explain how the Athenian empire grew up. 

The causes which led to the defections of the allies were Causes of 
of different kinds, the principal one being their neglect to formation, 
pay the tribute or to furnish ships, and, in some cases, Thuc. i. go. 
failure of military service. For the Athenians were ex- 
acting and oppressive, using coercive measures toward 
men who were neither willing nor accustomed to work 
hard. And for various reasons they soon began to prove 



in hand. 

Arist. Const. 
Ath. 24. 



178 The Delian Confederacy 

less agreeable leaders than at first. They no longer fought 
upon an equality with the rest of the confederates, and 
they had no difficulty in reducing them when they re- 
volted. Now the allies brought all this upon themselves; 
for the majority of them disliked military service and ab- 
sence from home, and so they agreed to contribute a 
regular sum of money instead of ships. Whereby the 
Athenian navy was proportionately increased, while they 
themselves were always untrained and unprepared for 
war when they revolted, 
imperialism Afterwards as the citizens of the (Athenian) state had 

and democ- . _ , , . , , 

racy go hand acquired confidence and a great quantity of money had 

accumulated, he (Aristeides) advised them to lay hold on 

the leadership, and to come in from the country and live in 

the city, assuring them that there would be a livelihood 

for all, — some serving in the army, others in garrisons, 

others attending to administrative work, — and that thus 

they would secure the leadership. Adopting this policy 

and usurping the imperial power, they began to treat their 

allies more despotically, with the exception of the Chians, 

Lesbians, and Samians, whom they retained as guards of 

their empire, leaving them their own constitutions and the 

dependencies which they severally chanced to rule. Thus 

they established for the multitude an abundant supply 

of provisions, as Aristeides had pointed out; for it resulted 

that from the tributes and the taxes more than twenty 

thousand men derived their support. 



STUDIES 

1. How did Themistocles contrive to have the walls of Athens 
rebuilt? How did the growth of Peiraeus affect Athenian politics? 

2. What had Pausanias done to bring ill repute upon the Spartans 
{Greece, 146; Ancient World, 184)? What object of the Confederacy 



Studies 179 

is mentioned? Give an account of the first assessment. What 
changes were afterward made? 

3. What change gradually took place in the constitution of the 
confederacy? What causes brought it about? Who were more to 
blame for it, the Athenians or the allies? What criticism does Thu- 
cydides make upon Hellanicus? Why did the growth of imperialism 
and democracy go hand in hand at Athens? Who are the authors of 
the several selections of this chapter, and what is their relative worth 
as historians of this period? 



CHAPTER XVIII 



Family and 
personal ap- 
pearance. 



Plutarch, 
Pericles, 3. 

Ancient 
World, 137- 
41. 

The true 
reason is that 
he was a 
general. 



THE AGE OF PERICLES 

I. Pericles: Family and Education 

Pericles was descended from the noblest families in 
Athens, on both his father's and mother's side. His 
father, Xanthippus, defeated the Persian generals at 
Mycale, while his mother, Agariste, was a descendant 
of Cleisthenes, who drove the sons of Peisistratus out of 
Athens, put an end to their despotic rule, and established 
a new constitution admirably calculated to reconcile all 
parties and save the country. • • . His body was sym- 
metrical, but his head was long out of all proportion; 
hence in nearly all his statues he is represented wearing 
a helmet, as the sculptors did not wish, I suppose, to re- 
proach him with this blemish. The Attic poets called him 
squill-head, and the comic poet, Cratinus, in his play 
"C heir ones" says, 

From Cronos old and faction, 
Is sprung a tyrant dread, 
And all Olympus calls him, 
The man-compelling head. 

Telecleides, too, speaks of him as sitting, 

Bowed down, 
With a dreadful frown, 
Because matters of state have gone wrong, 
Until at last, 
From his head so vast, 
His ideas burst forth in a throng. . . . 
180 






Education of Pericles 181 

It was Anaxagoras of Clazomenae who had most to do His 
with forming Pericles' style, teaching him an elevation 
and sublimity of expression beyond that of ordinary popu- 
lar speakers, and altogether purifying and ennobling his 
mind. This Anaxagoras was called Intelligence, by the 
men of that time, either because they admired his own in- 
tellect, or because he taught that an abstract intelligence 
is to be traced in all the concrete forms of matter, and that 
to this, and not to chance, the universe owes its origin. 

Pericles greatly admired Anaxagoras, and became His dignified 
, . i . i i • i • , st y le of ora- 

deeply interested in these grand speculations, which gave tory. 

him a haughty spirit and a lofty style of oratory far re- /&. s . 
moved from vulgarity and low buffoonery, and also an 
imperturbable gravity of countenance, and a calmness of 
demeanor and appearance which no incident could disturb 
as he was speaking, while the tone of his voice never showed 
that he heeded any interruption. These advantages 
greatly impressed the people. Once he sat quietly all 
day in the market-place despatching some pressing busi- 
ness, reviled in the foulest terms all the while by some 
low worthless fellow. Towards evening he walked home, 
the man following him and heaping abuses upon him. 
When about to enter his own door, as it was dark, he 
ordered one of his servants to take a torch and light the 
man home. . . . 

II. His Statesmanship 
Pericles when young greatly feared the people. He had Reluctant to 

6n£Egc in 

a certain personal likeness to the despot Peisistratus; and politics. 
as his own voice was sweet, and he was ready and fluent 7 $ 7 
in speech, old men who had known Peisistratus were struck 
by his resemblance to him. He was also rich, of noble 
birth, and had powerful friends, so that he feared he 



182 



The Age of Pericles 



On ostracism; 
Ancient 
World, 140 f. 



He takes the 
side of the 
people. 



The Sala- 
mi nian tri- 
reme was 
reserved for 
carrying - 
official mes- 
sages and 
important 
officers and 
embassies. 



might be banished by ostracism, and consequently held 
aloof from politics, but proved himself a brave and daring 
soldier in the wars. But when Aristeides was dead, The- 
mistocles banished, and Cimon generally absent on distant 
campaigns, Pericles engaged in public affairs, taking the 
popular side, that of the poor and many against that of 
the rich and few, quite contrary to his own feelings, which 
were entirely aristocratic. 

He feared, it seemed, that he might be suspected of a 
design to make himself tyrant, and seeing that Cimon took 
the side of the nobility, and was much beloved by them, 
he betook himself to the people, as a means of obtaining 
safety for himself, and a strong party to combat that of 
Cimon. He immediately altered his mode of life; was 
never seen in any street except that which led to the 
market-place and the national assembly, and declined all 
invitations to dinner and such social gatherings, so ut- 
terly that during the whole of his long political life he 
never dined with one of his friends except when his first 
cousin, Euryptolemus, was married. On this occasion he 
sat at table till the libations were poured, upon which he 
at once got up and went away. For solemnity is wont 
to unbend at festive gatherings, and a majestic demeanor 
is hard to keep up when one is in familiar intercourse with 
others. True virtue, indeed, appears more glorious the 
more it is seen, and a really good man's life is never so 
much admired by the outside world as by his own intimate 
friends. But Pericles feared to make himself too common 
even with the people, and only addressed them after long 
intervals — not speaking upon every subject, and not 
constantly addressing them, but as Critolaus says, keep- 
ing himself like the Salaminian trireme for great crises, and 
allowing his friends and the other orators to manage mat- 



Oratory of Pericles 183 

ters of less moment. One of these friends is said to have On the fall 

been Ephialtes, who destroyed the power of the Council of cil of the 

the Areopagus, " pouring out" as Plato the comic poet AncSnf^' 

said, "a full and unmixed draught of liberty for the citi- World, 1&9, 

zens," under the influence of which the poets of the 15s f. 
time said that the Athenian people 

"Nibbled at Euboea, like a horse that spurns the rein, 
And wantonly would leap upon the islands in the main." 

Wishing to adopt a style of speaking consonant with Why he was 
his haughty manner and lofty spirit, Pericles made free "Olym- 
use of the instrument which Anaxagoras as it were put pian ' 
into his hand, and often tinged his oratory with natural Plut - Per - 8 - 
philosophy. He far surpassed all others by using this 
"lofty intelligence and power of universal consummation," 
as the divine Plato calls it; in addition to his natural On Plato; 
advantages, adorning his oratory with apt illustrations World, 288 f. 
drawn from physical science. 

For this reason some think that he was nicknamed the 
Olympian; yet some refer this to his improvement of the 
city by new and beautiful buildings, and others to his 
power as a politician and a general. It is not by any means 
unlikely that these causes all combined to produce the 
name. Yet the comedies of the time, when they allude 
to him, either in jest or earnest, always appear to think 
that this name was given him because of his manner of 
speaking, for they represent him as " thundering and 
lightning" and "rolling fateful thunders from his 
tongue." 

A saying of Thucydides, the son of Melesias, has been £P nte ^T ith 
preserved, which jestingly testifies to the power of Pericles' 
eloquence. Thucydides was the leader of the conservative 
party, and for a long time struggled to hold his own against 



1 84 



The Age of Pericles 



On this 
Thucydides 
(not the 
historian); 
Greece, 170 f. 



Stesim- 
brotus, a 
contemporary 
writer. 



The Peri- 
clean gov- 
ernment. 

Plut. Per. 9. 

Greece, 172- 
8; Ancient 
World, 195-8. 



Pericles in debate. One day Archidamus, the King of 
Sparta, asked him whether he or Pericles was the best 
wrestler. "When I throw him in wrestling," Thucydides 
answered, "he beats me by proving that he never was 
down, and by making the spectators believe him." For all 
this Pericles was very cautious about his words, and when- 
ever he ascended the tribune to speak, used first to pray to 
the gods that nothing inappropriate to the present occa- 
sion might fall from his lips. He left no writings, except 
the measures which he brought forward, and very few of 
his sayings are recorded. One of these was, that he called 
iEgina "the eyesore of the Peiraeus" and that "he saw 
war coming upon Athens from Peloponnesus." Stesim- 
brotus tells us that when he was pronouncing a public 
funeral oration over those who fell in Samos, he said that 
they had become immortal, even as the gods: for we do not 
see the gods, but we conceive them to be immortal by the 
respect which we pay them, and the blessings which we 
receive from them; and the same is the case with those 
who die for their country. 

Thucydides represents the constitution under Pericles 
as a democracy in name, but really an aristocracy, be- 
cause the government was all in the hands of one leading 
citizen. But as many other writers tell us that during his 
administration the people received grants of land abroad, 
and were indulged with dramatic entertainments, and 
payments for their services, in consequence of which they 
fell into bad habits, and became extravagant and licentious, 
instead of sober, hard-working people as they had been 
before, let us consider the history of this change, viewing 
it by the light of the facts themselves. First of all, as we 
have already said, Pericles had to measure himself with 
Cimon, and to transfer the affections of the people from 



Pericles Wins the People 185 

Cimon to himself. As he was not so rich a man as Cimon, 
who used from his own ample means to give a dinner daily 
to any poor Athenian who required it, clothe aged persons, 
and take away the fences around his property, so that any- 
one might gather the fruit, Pericles, unable to vie with him 
in this, turned his attention to a distribution of the public 
funds among the people, at the suggestion, we are told 
by Aristotle, of Damonides of Oia. By the money paid 
for public spectacles, for citizens acting as jurymen and 
other paid offices, and largesses, he soon won over the 
people to his side, so that he was able to use them in his 
attack upon the Council of the Areopagus, of which he Ancient 
himself was not a member, never having been chosen 
archon, or thesmothete, or king archon, or polemarch. 
These offices had from ancient times been obtained by lot, The lot was 
and it was only through them that those who had approved in 487 B C c.; 
themselves in the discharge of them were advanced to h/^ w ' i70 
the Areopagus. For this reason it was that Pericles, when 
he gained strength with the populace, destroyed this 
Senate, making Ephialtes bring forward a bill which re- 
stricted its judicial powers, while he himself succeeded 
in getting Cimon banished by ostracism, as a friend of 
Sparta and a hater of the people, although he was second 
to no Athenian in birth or fortune, had won most brilliant 
victories over the Persians, and had filled Athens with 
plunder and spoils of war, as will be found related in his 
life. So great was the power of Pericles with the common 
people. . . . 

III. The Public Works 

The building of the temples, by which Athens was 
adorned, the people were delighted, and the rest of the 
world astonished, and which now alone prove that the 



1 86 



The Age of Pericles 



The money 
for the 
buildings. 

Plutarch, 
Pericles, 12. 



They furnish 
the people 
with work. 



tales of the ancient power and glory of Greece are no fables, 
was what particularly excited the spleen of the opposite 
faction, who inveighed against him in the public assembly, 
declaring that the Athenians had disgraced themselves 
by transferring the common treasury of the Greeks from 
the island of Delos to their own custody. "Pericles him- 
self," they urged, "has taken away the only possible 
excuse for such an act — the fear that it might be exposed to 
the attacks of the Persians when at Delos, whereas it 
would be safe at Athens. Greece has been outraged, and 
feels itself openly tyrannised over, when it sees us using 
the funds which we extorted from it for the war against 
the Persians, for gilding and beautifying our city, as if it 
were a vain woman, and adorning it with precious marbles, 
and statues, and temples, worth a thousand talents." 
To this Pericles replied, that the allies had no right to 
consider how their money was spent, so long as Athens 
defended them from the Persians; while they supplied 
neither horses, ships, nor men, but merely money, which 
the Athenians had a right to spend as they pleased, pro- 
vided they afforded them that security which it purchased. 
It was right, he argued, that after the city had provided 
all that was necessary for war, it should devote its surplus 
money to the erection of buildings which would be a glory 
to it for all ages. 

At the same time these works would create plenty by 
leaving no man unemployed, and encouraging all sorts 
of handicraft, so that nearly the whole city would earn 
wages, and thus derive both its beauty and its profit 
from itself. For those who were in the flower of their 
age, military service offered a means of earning money 
from the common stock; while as he did not wish 
the mechanics and the lower classes to be without their 



Industrial Aspect 187 

share, nor yet to see them receive it without doing work 
for it, he had laid the foundations of great edifices which 
would require industries of every kind to complete them; 
and he had done this in the interests of the lower classes, 
who thus although they remained at home, would have 
just as good a claim to their share of the public funds as 
those who were serving at sea, in garrison, or in the field. 
The different materials used, such as stone, brass, ivory, 
gold, ebony, cypress-wood, and so forth, would require 
special artisans for each, such as carpenters, modellers, 
smiths, stone masons, embroiderers, workers in relief; 
and also men to bring them to the city, such as sailors 
and captains of ships and pilots for such as came from 
sea; and for those which came by land, carriage-builders, 
horse-breeders, drivers, rope-makers, linen manufacturers, 
shoemakers, road-menders, and miners. Each trade, 
moreover, employed a number of unskilled laborers, so 
that in a word, there would be work for persons of every 
age and every class, and general prosperity would be the 
result. 

These buildings were of immense size, and unequalled Artistic ap- 
in beauty and grace, as the workmen endeavored to make 
the execution surpass the design in beauty; but what was 
most remarkable was the speed with which they were 
built. All these edifices, each of which, one would have 
thought, it would have taken many generations to com- 
plete, were all finished during the most brilliant period 
of one man's administration. We are told that Zeuxis, 
hearing Agatharchus the painter boasting how easily 
and rapidly he could produce a picture, said, "I paint 
very slowly." Ease and speed of execution seldom pro- 
duce work of any permanent value or delicacy. It is the 
time which is spent in laborious production for which we 



preciation. 
lb. 13. 



188 The Age of Pericles 

are repaid by the durable character of the result. And 
this makes Pericles' work all the more wonderful, because 
it was built in a short time, and yet has lasted for ages. 
In beauty each building at once appeared venerable as 
soon as it was finished; but even at the present day the 
work looks as fresh as ever, for it blooms with an eternal 
freshness which defies time, and seems instinct with an 
unfading spirit of youth. 

Pheidiasand xhe overseer and manager of the whole was Pheidias, 

other artists. in 

although there were other excellent architects and work- 
men, such as Callicrates and Ictinus, who built the Parthe- 
non on the site of the old Hecatompedon, which had been 
destroyed by the Persians, and Corcebus, who began to 
build the temple of initiation at Eleusis, but who lived 
only to see the columns erected and the architraves placed 
upon them. On his death, Metagenes, of Xypete, added 
the frieze and the upper row of columns, and Xenocles, 
of Cholargus, crowned it with the domed roof over the 
shrine. As to the Long Wall, about which Socrates says 
that he heard Pericles bring forward a motion, Callicrates 
undertook to build it. Cratinus satirizes the work for 
being slowly accomplished, saying: 

"He builds in speeches, but he does no work." 

The Odeum. The Odeum, which internally consisted of many rows of 
seats and many columns, and externally of a roof sloping 
on all sides from a central point, is said to have been an 
imitation of the king of Persia's tent, and was built under 
Pericles' direction. For this reason Cratinus alludes to 
him in his play of the Thracian Women — 

"Our Zeus with lofty skull appears; 
The Odeum on his head he wears, 
Because he fears the ostrakon no more." 



Odeum and Propylaea 189 

Pericles at that period used his influence to pass a decree 
for establishing a musical competition at the Panathenaic 
festival ; and being himself chosen judge, he laid down rules 
as to how the candidates were to sing, and play the flute 
or the harp. At that period and ever afterward all musical 
contests took place in the Odeum. 

The Propylaea, before the Acropolis, was finished in The Propy- 
five years, by Mnesicles the architect; and a miraculous 
incident during the work seemed to show that the goddess 
did not disapprove, but rather encouraged and assisted 
the building. The most energetic and active of the work- 
men fell from a great height, and lay in a dangerous con- 
dition, given over by his doctors. Pericles grieved much 
for him; but the goddess appeared to him in a dream, and 
suggested a course of treatment by which Pericles quickly 
healed the workman. In consequence of this, he set up 
the brazen statue of Athena the healer, near the old altar 
in the Acropolis. The golden statue of the goddess was 
made by Pheidias, and his name appears on the base in 
an inscription. Almost everything was in his hands, and 
he gave his orders to all the workmen — as we have said 
before — because of his friendship with Pericles. 



IV. Selections from Sophocles 

When a god sends harm, not even the strong man can Orestes in 
escape. For on another day, when chariots were to try chariot-face, 
their speed at sunrise, he (Orestes) entered, with many 
charioteers. One was an Achaean, one from Sparta, two Sophocles, 
masters of yoked cars were Libyans; Orestes, driving 696 ff.' 
Thessalian mares, came fifth among them; the sixth from 
.Etolia, with chestnut colts; a Magnesian was the seventh; 
the eighth, with white horses, was of /Enian stock; the 



190 



The Age of Pericles 



On the 
national 
games; 
A ncient 
World, & 



Greece, 101-3. 



A runaway. 



The Bar- 
caean was 
from Barca, 
Libya. 



Two teams 
remain in 
the race. 



ninth, from Athens, built of Gods; there was a Boeotian 
too, making the tenth chariot. 

They took their stations where the appointed umpires 
placed them by lot and ranged the cars; then, at the sound 
of the brazen trump, they started. All shouted to their 
horses, and shook the reins in their hands; the whole course 
was filled with the noise of rattling chariots; the dust flew 
upward; and all, in a confused throng, plied their goads 
unsparingly, each of them striving to pass the wheels 
and the snorting steeds of his rivals; for alike at their backs 
and at their rolling wheels the breath of the horses foamed 
and smote. 

Orestes, driving close to the pillar at either end of the 
course, almost grazed it with his wheel each time, and 
giving rein to the trace-horse on the right, checked the 
horse on the inner side. Hitherto, all the chariots had 
escaped overthrow; but presently the ^Enian's hard- 
mouthed colts ran away, and swerving, as they passed from 
the sixth to the seventh round, dashed their foreheads 
against the team of the Barcaean. Other mishaps followed 
the first, shock on shock and crash on crash, till the whole 
race-ground of Crisa was strewn with the wreck of the 
chariots. 

Seeing this, the wary charioteer from Athens drew aside 
and paused, allowing the billow of chariots, surging in 
midcourse, to go by. Orestes was driving last, keeping 
his horses behind, — for his trust was in the end; but when 
he saw that the Athenian was alone left in, he sent a shrill 
cry ringing through the ears of his swift colts, and gave 
chase. Team was brought level with team, and so they 
raced, — first one man, then the other, showing his head 
in front of the chariots. 

Hitherto the ill-fated Orestes had passed safely through 



A Chariot-Race 



191 



every round, steadfast in his steadfast car; at last slacken- 
ing his left rein while the horse was turning, unawares 
he struck the edge of the pillar; he broke the axle-box in 
twain ; he was thrown over the chariot-rail ; he was caught 
in the shapely reins; and as he fell on the ground, his colts 
were scattered into the middle of the course. 

But when the people saw him fallen from the car, a 
cry of pity went up for the youth, who had now done such 
deeds and was meeting such a doom, — now dashed to 
earth, now tossed feet uppermost to the sky, — till the 
charioteers, with difficulty checking the career of his 
horses, loosed him, so covered with blood that no friend 
who saw it would have known the hapless corpse. Straight- 
way they burned it on a pyre; and chosen men of Phocis 
are bringing in a small urn of bronze the sad dust of that 
mighty form, to find due burial in his fatherland. 

Antigone. Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest 
thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by CEdipus, that 
Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing pain- 
ful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dis- 
honor, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine. 

And now what new edict is this of which they tell, 
that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? 
Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden 
from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom 
of our foes? 

Ismene. No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or 
painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft 
of brothers twain, killed in one day by a twofold blow; and 
since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, I know no 
more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous. 

Ant. I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee 



Orestes 
killed. 



This false 
report of his 
death was 
told to de- 
ceive the 
hearer. 
Such fatal- 
ities, how- 
ever, were 
doubtless 
not uncom- 
mon. 



The human 
law in con- 
flict with the 
divine. 

Sophocles, 
Antigone 
(opening). 
On CEdipus; 
Ancient 
World, 93. 
The Argives 
had attacked 
their city, 
Thebes, and 
had been 
driven off. 
Their brother 
Polyneices 
had been with 
the enemy. 
He and 
Eteocles, 
another 
brother, had 
killed each 
other in 
battle. 



192 



The Age of Pericles 



Their father 
GEdipus had 
been king, 
but was 
dethroned, 
and Creon, 
their uncle, 
was reign- 
ing. 



As a traitor, 
Polyneices 
was to re- 
main un- 
buried. 



Antigone has 
resolved to 
obey the 
religious 
law, which 
commands 
one to bury 
a relative. 



beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear 
alone. 

Is. What is it? Tis plain that thou art brooding on 
some dark tidings. 

Ant. What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the 
one to honored burial, the other to unburied shame? 
Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and cus- 
tom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honor among the 
dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices — as 
rumor saith, it hath been published to the town that none 
shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsep- 
ulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, 
to feast on at will. 

Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath 
set forth for thee and for me — yes, for me, — and is coming 
hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; 
nor counts the matter light, but whoso disobeys in aught, 
his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou 
knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art 
nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line. 

Is. Poor sister, — and if things stand thus, what could I 
help to do or undo? 

Ant. Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed. 

Is. In what venture? What can be thy meaning? 

Ant. Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead? 

Is. Thou wouldst bury him, — when 'tis forbidden to 
Thebes? 

Ant. I will do my part, — and thine, if thou wilt not, 
— to a brother. False to him will I never be found. 

Is. Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden? 

Ant. Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own. 

Is. Ah, me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid 
hate and scorn ! . . . Nay, we must remember, first that 






Antigone 193 

we were born women, who should not strive with men; 
next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must 
obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, 
asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force 
is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers; for 'tis 
witless to be over-busy. 

Ant. I will not urge thee, — no, nor, if thou yet shouldst 
have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker 
with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: 
well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one 
with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I 
owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in 
that world I shall abide forever. But if thou wilt, be guilty 
of dishonoring laws which the gods have stablished in 
honor. 

Is. I do them no dishonor; but to defy the state, — I Inpunish- 

, , , - ., . ment she was 

nave no strength for that. buried alive. 

Ant. Such be thy plea: — I, then, will go to heap the 
earth above the brother whom I love. 

First I call on thee, daughter of Zeus, divine Athena, Prayer for 
and on thy sister, guardian of our land, Artemis, who sits froJ"" 1 " 
on her throne of fame, above the circle of our Agora, and P estilence - 
on Phoebus the far-darter; O shine forth on me, my three- Sophocles, 
fold help against death! If ever aforetime, in arrest of Tyrannus, 
ruin hurrying on the city, ye drove a fiery pest beyond I59ff ' 
our borders, come now also! 

Woe is me, countless are the sorrows that I bear; a 
plague is on all our host, and thought can find no weapon 
for defence. . . . 

By such deaths, past numbering, the city perishes: 
unpitied, her children lie on the ground, spreading pesti- 
lence, with none to mourn: and meanwhile young wives, 



194 



The Age of Pericles 



Apollo. 



The "deep of 
Amphitrite" 
is the ocean. 



Apollo again. 



Charter of 

Chalcis. 

Granted by 
decree of the 
council and 
assembly 
(demus) of 
Athens. 
The original 
text may be 
found in 






and gray-haired mothers with them, uplift a wail at the 
steps of the altars, some here, some there, entreating for 
their weary woes. The prayer to the Healer rings clear, 
and blent therewith, the voice of lamentation; for these 
things, golden daughter of Zeus, send us the bright face of 
comfort. 

And grant that the fierce god of death, who now with 
no brazen shields, yet amid cries as of battle, wraps me 
in the flame of his onset, may turn his back in speedy flight 
from our land, borne by a fair wind to the great deep of 
Amphitrite, or to those waters in which none find haven, 
even to the Thracian wave; for if night leave aught un- 
done, day follows to accomplish this. O thou who wield- 
est the powers of the fire-fraught lightning, O Zeus, our 
father, slay him beneath thy thunderbolt! 

Lycean King, fain were I that thy shafts also, from thy 
bent bow's string of woven gold, should go abroad in their 
might, our champions in the face of the foe; yea, and the 
flashing fires of Artemis wherewith she glances through 
the Lycian hills. And I call him whose locks are bound 
with gold, who is named with the name of this land, ruddy 
Bacchus to whom Bacchants cry, the comrade of the 
Maenads, to draw near with the blaze of his blithe torch, 
our ally against the god unhonored among gods. . . . 

V. Condition of a Subject State of the Empire 

It has pleased the council and the demus. Antiochis 
held the prytany; Dracontides was chairman; Diognetus 
made the motion; that the council and the jurors of the 
Athenians shall take oath as follows: — 

I shall not banish Chalcidians from Chalcis or destroy 
their city; nor will I disfranchise any private citizen 
nor punish him with exile nor arrest him nor put him to 



Charter of Chalcis 195 

death untried, except with the sanction of the Athenian Hicks and 

... _ * . . Hill, Manual 

people ; nor will I put a resolution to vote against the com- of Greek In- 
munity or any private citizen when neither has been sum- no* 40™*' 
moned to trial. Moreover if an embassy comes, I will in- The opening 

J gives the 

troduce it to the council and assembly within ten days usual formu- 
to the best of my ability whensoever I am serving as pry- cree . Antio- 
tanis. These things I will maintain for the Chalcidians ^ whos^ 
as long as they are obedient to the Athenian people. delegation 

An embassy coming from Chalcis shall administer the be on duty 
oath to the Athenians and shall register the names of ^Ancunt^' 
those who have taken it. It shall be the function of the World, 140. 
generals to see that all take the oath. 

The Chalcidians on their part shall swear as follows: 

I will not revolt against the Athenian people by any The oath 
plan or contrivance, by word or deed, nor will I obey any chalcidians. 
one who does revolt ; and if anyone revolts, I will denounce 
him to the Athenians. Furthermore I will pay to the 
Athenians whatever contribution I shall persuade the 
Athenians to accept, and shall be as faithful and just an 
ally as I am able; and I shall bring succor and aid to the 
Athenian people if anyone attempts to harm the Athenian 
people. 

All the adult Chalcidians shall take the oath. Who- 
ever shall refuse to swear shall be disenfranchised and his 
property shall be confiscated, and a tenth of his goods shall 
be sacred to the Olympian Zeus. An embassy of Athe- 
nians coming to Chalcis shall, in cooperation with the com- 
missioners of oaths in Chalcis, impose the oath and register tion of the 
the names of the Chalcidians who have taken it. . . . 

This decree and oath the secretary of the council at following 



Athens shall engrave on a stone pillar and set it up on the f^ gT ^ t s ot 
Acropolis at the expense of the Chalcidians. The council an amend- 
of the Chalcidians shall also engrave it and set it up in the Anticles. 



196 



The Age of Pericles 



Hierocles, a 
soothsayer 
who had 
been with the 
army in 
Euboea. 

Jurisdiction. 

Amendment 
by Arches- 
tratus. 



Aristophanes, 
Achamians 
(opening). 
This play was 
presented in 
425 B.C. 
Justown, an 
upright 
citizen 
from the 
country, 
comes early 
to the place 
of assembly, 
on Pnyx Hill, 
but finds 
no one there. 
He is vexed 
that the 
citizens are 
so neglectful 
of duty. He 
is anxious 
to deliberate 
on peace 
with Sparta. 
The Presi- 
dents are the 
prytenes; 
Ancient 
World, 140. 
The "painted 
twine " is to 
mark those 
who neg- 
lected the 
call to the 
assembly. 



temple of the Olympian Zeus in Chalcis. These things 
they shall vote concerning the Chalcidians. 

With respect however to the sacrifices required by 
the oracles concerning Eubcea, let the council elect three 
of their own number, who shall join with Hierocles in 
offering them as speedily as possible. 

Archestratus moved: other matters shall stand as 
An tides has proposed; but the Chalcidians shall have 
jurisdiction over their own citizens at Chalcis, just as the 
Athenians have over theirs at Athens, except in cases of 
exile, death, and disfranchisement. In these cases let 
there be an appeal to Athens, to the Heliaea of the Thes- 
mothetae in accordance with the decree of the assembly. 
Touching the garrison in Eubcea, let the generals take 
care to the best of their ability that it be of the greatest 
possible advantage to the Athenians. 

VI. Some Diplomatic Business before the Assembly 

Justown. But never in my lifetime, man nor boy, 
Was I so vexed as at this present moment; 
To see the Pnyx, at this time of the morning, 
Quite empty, when the Assembly should be full. 
There are our citizens in the market-place, 
Lounging and talking, shifting up and down 
To escape the painted twine that ought to sweep 
The shoal of them this way; not even the Presidents 
Arrived — they're always last, crowding and jostling 
To get the foremost seat; but as for peace 
They never think about it — Oh, poor country! 
As for myself, I'm always the first man. 
Alone in the morning, here I take my place, 
Here I contemplate, here I stretch my legs; 
I think and think — I don't know what to think. 
I draw conclusions and comparisons. . . . 
I fidget about and yawn and scratch myself; 
Looking in vain to the prospect of the fields, 



Embassy from Sparta 

Loathing the city, longing for a peace, 

To return to my poor village and my farm, 

That never used to cry "Come buy my charcoal!" 

Nor "Buy my oil" nor "Buy my anything!" 

But gave me what I wanted, freely and fairly, 

Clear of all cost, with never a word of buying, 

Or such buy-words. So here I'm come, resolved 

To bawl, to abuse, to interrupt the speakers, 

Whenever I hear a word of any kind 

Except for an immediate peace. Ah there! 

The Presidents at last; see, there they come! 

All scrambling for their seats — I told you so! 

Herald. Move forward there! Move forward all of ye 

Further! within the consecrated ground. 

Half god. Has anybody spoke? 

Her. Is anybody 

Prepared to speak? 

Half. Yes, I. 

Her. Who are you and what? 

Half. Halfgod, the demigod. 

Her. ■ Not a man? 

Half. No I'm immortal; for the first Halfgod 

Was born of Ceres and Triptolemus, 

His only son was Celeus, Celeus married 

Phaenarete my grandmother; Lycinus 

My father, was their son; that's proof enough 

Of the immortality in our family. 

The gods moreover have despatched me here 

Commissioned specially to arrange a peace 

Betwixt this city and Sparta — notwithstanding 

I find myself rather in want at present 

Of a little ready money for my journey. 

The magistrates won't assist me. 

Her. Constables! 

Half. O Celeus and Triptolemus, don't forsake me ! 

Just. You Presidents, I say! you exceed your powers; 

You insult the Assembly, dragging off a man 

That offered to make terms and give us peace. 

Her. Keep silence there. 



IQ7 



The war 
keeps him in 
the city 
against his 
will. 



The Presi- 
dents enter 
and take their 
seats. 

Religious 
ceremony of 
consecra- 
tion. 

The proceed- 
ings begin. 



The haughty 
pride of 
ancestry. 



Halfgod has 
come on a 
peace mis- 
sion. 



The herald 
calls the con- 
stables to 
drag Halfgod 
out; there is 
to be no talk 
of peace with 
Sparta. 



i g8 



The Age of Pericles 



The authori- 
ties want an 
alliance with 
Persia, but 
Justown will 
not hear of it. 

The dress is 

wonderfully 

gay. 



A High In- 
spector of the 
Persian king 
was called 
the "King's 
Eye." 

His huge eye 
looks like the 
eye painted 
on a ship's 
prow. 



Just. By Zeus, but I won't be silent, 

Except I hear a motion about peace. 

Her. Ho, there! the Ambassadors from the King of Persia. 

Just. What King of Persia? what Ambassadors? 

I'm sick of foreigners and foreign animals, 

Peacocks and coxcombs and Ambassadors. 

Her. Keep silence there. 

Just. What's here? What dress is that? 

In the name of Ecbatana! What does it mean? 

Ambassadors. You sent us when Euthymenes was Archon, 

Some few years back, Ambassadors to Persia, 

With an appointment of two drachmas each 

For daily maintenance. 

Just. Alas, poor drachmas! . . . 

Amb. Finally, ' 

We've brought you here a nobleman, Shamartabas 

By name, by rank and office the King's Eye. 

Just. God send a crow to pick it out I say, 

And yours the Ambassadors' into the bargain! 

Her. Let the King's Eye come forward. 

Just. Hercules ! 

What's here? an eye for the head of a ship? What point, 

What headland is he weathering? what's your course? 

What makes you steer so slowly and so steadily? 

Amb. Come now, Shamartabas, stand forth; declare 

The King's intentions to the Athenian people. 

(Shamartabas here utters some words, which Orientalists have sup- 
posed to be the common formula prefixed to the edicts of the 
Persian monarch — Iartaman exarksan apissonai satra) 

Amb. You understand it? 

Just. No, by Zeus, not I. 

Amb. (to Just.) He says the King intends to send us gold, (to 

Shamartabas) Explain about the gold; speak more distinctly. 
Shamartabas. Sen gooly Jaonau aphooly chest. 
Just. Well, that's distinct enough! 
Her. What does he say? 

Just. That it's a foolish jest for the Ionians 
To imagine their King would send them gold. 
Amb. No, no! — He's telling ye of chests full of gold. 






Embassies from Persia and Thrace 199 



Just. What chests? you're an impostor. — Stand away, 

Keep off; and let me alone to question him. 

(to Shamartabas) You Sir, you Persian! answer me distinctly 

And plainly in the presence of this fist of mine; 

On pain of a royal purple bloody nose. 

Will the King send us gold, or will he not? 

(Shamartabas shakes his head) 
Have our Ambassadors bamboozled us? 

(Shamartabas nods) 
These fellows nod to us in the Grecian fashion; 
They're some of our own people, I'll be bound. . . . 
Her. Theorus, our ambassador into Thrace, 
Returned from King Sitalces! 
Theorus. Here am I. 

Just. More coxcombs called for! Here's another coming. 
Theo. We should not have remained so long in Thrace . . . 
Just. If you hadn't been overpaid I know you wouldn't. 
Theo. But for the snow which covered all the country, 
And buried up the roads, and froze the rivers. 
'Twas singular this change of weather happened 
Just when Theognis here, our frosty poet, 
Brought out his tragedy. We passed our time 
In drinking with Sitalces. He's your friend, 
Your friend and lover, if there ever was one. 
And writes the name of Athens on his walls. . . . 
And now he has sent some warriors from a tribe 
The fiercest in all Thrace. 

Just. Well, come — That's fair. 

Her. The Thracians that came hither with Theorus! 
Let them come forward! 

Just. What the plague are these? 

Theo. The Odomantian army. 

Just. The Odomantians? 

Thracians? and what has brought them here from Thrace 
So strangely equipped, disguised, and circumcised? 
Theo. These are a race of fellows, if you'd hire them, 
Only a couple of drachmas daily pay; 
With their light javelins, and their little bucklers, 
They'd worry and skirmish all over Bceotia. 



Theorus, am- 
bassador to 
Thrace, has 
returned, and 
wishes to re- 
port. 



The tragedy 
of Theognis 
has caused a 
snow storm. 



200 



The Age of Pericles 



Rain was an 
unpropitious 
sign, dissolv- 
ing the as- 
sembly. 



Just. Two drachmas for those scarecrows! and our seamen 

What would they say to it? — left in arrears, 

Poor fellows, that are our support and safeguard. 

Out, out upon it! I'm a plundered man. 

I'm robbed and ruined here with the Odomantians. 

They're seizing upon my garlic. 

Theo. (to the Thracians) Oh for shame, 

Let the man's garlic alone. You shabby fellow, 

You countryman, take care what you're about; 

Don't venture near them when they're primed with garlic. 

Just. You magistrates, have you the face to see it, 

With your own eyes — your fellow-citizen 

Here, in the city itself, robbed by barbarians? 

But I forbid the Assembly. There's a change 

In the heaven! I felt a drop of rain! I'm witness! 

Her. The Thracians must withdraw, to attend again 

The first of next month. The Assembly is closed. 



The old 
juror. 

Aristophanes, 
Wasps, 88 ff. 

The speaker 
is his son, 
who has 
found it nec- 
essary to 
keep the old 
man confined 
at home, to 
curb his pas- 
sion for jury 
service. 

Greece, 175; 

Ancient 
World, 195 f. 

Chorus of 
jurors. 

Aristophanes, 
Wasps, S4Q ff . 



VII. The Jurors 

"He is a law-court lover, no man like him. 
Judging is what he dotes on, and he weeps 
Unless he sits on the front bench of all. 
At night he gets no sleep, no, not one grain, 
Or if he doze the tiniest speck, his soul 
Flutters in dreams about the water-clock. . . . 
The cock which crew at morningtide, he said, 
Was tampered with, he knew, to call him late. 
Bribed by officials whose accounts were due. 
Breakfast scarce done, he clamors for his shoes, 
Hurries ere daybreak to the Court, and sleeps 
Stuck like a limpit to the doorpost there. . . . 
Such is his frenzy, and the more you chide him 
The more he judges: so with bolts and bars 
We guard him straitly that he stir not out." 

No kinglier power than ours in any part of the world exists. 

Is there any creature on earth more blest, more feared, and petted 

from day to day, 
Or that leads a happier, pleasanter life, than a justice of Athens, 

though old and gray? 






The Jurors 201 



For first when rising from bed in the morn, to the criminal court be- 
times I trudge, 
Great six-foot fellows are there at the rails, in anxious haste to salute 

their judge. 
And the delicate hand, which has dipt so deep in the public purse, he Various 

claps into mine, dg™* 

And he bows before me and makes his prayer, and softens his voice 

to a pitiful whine. . . . 
So when they have begged and implored me enough, and my angry 

temper is wiped away, 
I enter in and take my seat; and then I do none of the things I say. . . 
Some vow they are needy and friendless men, and over their poverty 

wail and whine, 
And reckon up hardships false and true, till they make them out to be 

equal to mine. 
Some tell a legend of days gone by, or a joke from /Esop witty and 

sage, 
Or jest and banter, to make me laugh, that so I may forget my 

terrible rage. 
And if all this fails, and I stand unmoved, he leads by the hands his 

little ones near, 

He brings his girls and he brings his boys; and I the judge am com- A commcn 

posed to hear. custom in 

. . these courts. 

They huddle together with piteous bleats: while trembling above 

them he prays to me, 
Prays as to God his accounts to pass, to give him acquittance, and 

leave him free. 
But the nicest and pleasantest part of it all is this, which I had His salary 

wholly forgotten to say, HJtfec 

Tis when with my fee in my wallet I come, returning home at the tion. 

close of the day, 
Oh then what a welcome I get for its sake; my daughter, the darling, 

is foremost of all, 
And she washes my feet and anoints them with care and above them 

she stoops and a kiss lets fall, 
Till at last by the pretty Papas of her tongue, she angles withal my 

three obols away. 
Then my dear little wife, she sets on the board nice manchets of 

bread in a tempting array, 



202 



The Age of Pericles 



And cosily taking a seat by my side, with loving entreaty constrains 

me to feed; 
"I beseech you taste this, I implore you try that." 



Epitaph of 
Mannes the 
woodman. 



VIII. Two Interesting Documents 

Mannes, whose epitaph is given below, was a Phrygian by birth, 
doubtless brought as a slave to Attica and afterward liberated. He 
was one of a community of woodcutters in central Attica, when he 
was killed by the invading Peloponnesians in the first year of the war 
(431 B.C.). The second document is the earliest extant Greek letter, 
written on a leaden tablet now in the British Museum. The writer 
is an Athenian of the later fifth century B.C. The translations are 
by Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth, 272, 278 f. 

A. Mannes, son of Orymas, who was the best of the 
Phrygians in the broad lands of Athens, lies in this fine 
tomb ; and by Zeus, I never saw a better woodman than 
myself. He died in the war. 



Letter of 
Mnesiergus 
to those at 
home. 



B. Carry to the Potters' Market, and deliver to Nausias 
or Thrasycles or my son. 

Mnesiergus sends his love to all at home and hopes this 
may find them well as it leaves him. 

Please send me a rug, either a sheepskin or a goatskin, 
as cheap as you can get it, and not with the hairs on, and 
some strong shoe-soles: I will pay some time. 



IX. Criticism on the Athenian Democracy 

This Constitution of the Athenians is wrongly ascribed to Xenophon. 
It was written by an oligarch (" Old Oligarch ") early in the Pelo- 
ponnesian war, and is the oldest extant political pamphlet in any 
language. 

introduction. Now, as concerning the Polity of the Athenians, and 
the type or manner of constitution which they have 
chosen, I praise it not, in so far as the very choice involves 



Poor Citizens, Aliens, and Slaves 203 
the welfare of the baser folk as opposed to that of the The author 

. , T t'iiii • r-i hates democ- 

better class. I repeat, I withhold my praise so far; but, racy, but 
given the fact that this is the type agreed upon, I propose f/sucha 1 ^ 
to show that they set about its preservation in the right th ! n s k to 

way. . . . Athenians 

In the first place, I maintain, it is only just that the their method 
poorer classes and the People of Athens should be better ° t f u P holdm g 

off than the men of birth and wealth, seeing that it is the ^, 

ii in 1 T 1 • 1 The poor are 
people who man the fleet, and put round the city her better pro- 
girdle of power. The steersman, the boatswain, the have more 11 
lieutenant, the look-out-man at the prow, the shipwright — JhanThe 
these are the people who engird the city with power far rich, because 
rather than her heavy infantry and men of birth and constitute 
quality. This being the case, it seems only just that po^er^ 1 
offices of state should be thrown open to every one both 
in the ballot and the show of hands, and that the right 
of speech should belong to anyone who likes, without 
restriction. . . . 
Another point is the extraordinary amount of license Excellent 

1 1 .1 r * 1 1 condition of 

granted to slaves and resident aliens of Athens, where a slaves and 

blow is illegal, and a slave will not step aside to let you aliens, 
pass him in the street. I will explain the reason of this 
peculiar custom. Supposing it were legal for a slave to be Unintention- 
beaten by a free citizen, or for a resident alien or freed- thor pays a 
man to be beaten by a citizen, it would frequently happen pifment^o 
that an Athenian might be mistaken for a slave or an democracy- 
alien and receive a beating; since the Athenian people are 
not better clothed than the slave or alien, nor in personal 
appearance is there any superiority. Or if the fact itself 
that slaves in Athens are allowed to indulge in luxury, and 
indeed in some cases to live magnificently, be found 
astonishing, this too, it can be shown, is done of set pur- 
pose. Where we have a naval power dependent upon 



204 The Age of Pericles 

wealth we must perforce be slaves to our slaves, in order 

that we may get in our slave-rents, and let the real slave 

go free. . . . 

Naval su- And if one may descend to more trifling particulars, it 

premacy . . , , . . . . . . , . 

brings re- is to the same lordship of the sea that the Athenians owe 

and'breadth tne discovery, in the first place, of many of the luxuries of 

of life. }}f e through intercourse with other countries. So that the 

choice things of Sicily and Italy, of Cyprus and Egypt and 

Lydia, of Pontus or Peloponnese, or wheresoever it be, are 

all swept, as it were, into one centre, and all owing, as I 

say, to their maritime empire. And again, in process of 

listening to every form of speech, they have selected this 

from one place and that from another — for themselves. 

So much so that while the rest of the Hellenes employ 

each pretty much their own peculiar mode of speech, 

habit of life, and style of dress, the Athenians have 

adopted a composite type, to which all sections of Hellas, 

and the foreigner alike, have contributed. 

The plain As regards sacrifices and temples and festivals and 

citizens have ... 

a full share sacred enclosures, the People see that it is not possible 
vais. " " f° r every poor citizen to do sacrifice and hold festival, or 
to set up temples and to inhabit a large and beautiful city. 
But they have hit upon a means of meeting the diffi- 
culty. They sacrifice — that is, the whole state sacrifices — 
at the public cost, a large number of victims; but it is the 
People that keep holiday and distribute the victims by 
lot among its members. Rich men have in some cases 
private gymnasia and baths with dressing-rooms, but the 
People take care to have built at the public cost a number 
of palasstras, dressing-rooms, and bathing establishments 
for their own special use, and the mob gets the benefit of 
the majority of these, rather than the select few or the 
well-to-do. 






Naval Supremacy 



205 



As to wealth, the Athenians are exceptionally placed 
with regard to Hellenic and foreign communities alike, in 
their ability to hold it. For, given that some state or other 
is rich in timber for shipbuilding, where is it to find a 
market for the product except by persuading the ruler of 
the sea? Or suppose the wealth of some state or other to 
consist of iron, or may be of bronze, or of linen yarn, 
where will it find a market except by permission of the 
supreme maritime power? Yet these are the very things, 
you see, which I need for my ships. Timber I must have 
from one, and from another iron, from a third bronze, 
from a fourth linen yarn, from a fifth wax, etc. Besides 
which they will not suffer their antagonists in those 
parts to carry their products elsewhither, or they will 
cease to use the sea. Accordingly I, without one stroke 
of labor, extract from the land and possess all these good 
things, thanks to my supremacy on the sea; whilst not a 
single other state possesses the two of them. Not timber, 
for instance, and yarn together, can be found in the same 
city. But where yarn is abundant, the soil will be light and 
devoid of timber. And in the same way bronze and iron 
will not be products of the same city. And so for the rest, 
never two or at best three, in one state, but one thing here 
and another thing there. Moreover, above and beyond 
what has been said, the coast-line of every mainland pre- 
sents, either some jutting promontory or adjacent island or 
narrow strait of some sort, so that those who are masters 
of the sea can come to moorings at one of these points 
and wreak vengeance on the inhabitants of the main- 
land. 



Naval su- 
premacy 
tends to a 
monopoly of 
the world's 
products. 



The com- 
merce of 
other states 
is at the 
mercy of the 
supreme 
maritime 
power. 



206 



The Age of Pericles 



X. Character of the Athenians Interpreted by 
Pericles 



Equality be- 
fore the law 
and offices 
to the quali- 
fied. 



Funeral 
Oration of 
Pericles, 
quoted by 
Thucydides 
ii- 37- 



The ideas 
are those of 
Pericles; the 
words are 
mainly the 
historian's. 



Refinements 
of Athenian 
life. 

lb. 38. 



"Our form of government does not enter into rivalry 
with the institutions of others. We do not copy our 
neighbors, but are an example to them. It is true that 
we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the 
hands of the many and not of the few. But while the law 
secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes, 
the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a 
citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred for the 
public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as a re- 
ward of merit. Neither is poverty a bar, but a man may 
benefit his country whatever be the obscurity of his con- 
dition. There is no exclusiveness in our public life, and 
in our private intercourse we are not suspicious of one 
another, nor angry with our neighbor if he does what he 
likes; we do not put on sour looks at him which, though 
harmless, are not pleasant. While we are thus uncon- 
strained in our private intercourse, a spirit of reverence 
pervades our public acts; we are prevented from doing 
wrong by respect for authority and for the laws, having a 
special regard to those which are ordained for the protec- 
tion of the injured as well as to those unwritten laws which 
bring upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the 
general sentiment. 

"And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary 
spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games 
and sacrifices throughout the year; at home the style of 
our life is refined; and the delight which we daily feel in 
all these things helps to banish melancholy. Because of 
the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth 



Athenian Character 207 

flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other 
countries as freely as of our own. 

Then, again, our military training is in many respects Generosity 
superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown 
open to the world, and we never expel a foreigner or pre- ' 39 " 
vent him from seeing or learning anything of which the 
secret, if revealed to an enemy, might profit him. We rely 
not upon management and trickery, but upon our own 
hearts and hands. And in the matter of education, 
whereas they from early youth are undergoing laborious 
exercises which are to make them brave, we live at ease, 
and yet are equally ready to face the perils which they 
face. . . . 

"If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart 
but without laborious training, and with a courage which 
is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not 
greatly the gainers? since we do not anticipate the pain, 
although when the hour comes, we can be as brave as 
those who never allow themselves to rest; and thus too 
our city is equally admirable in peace and in war. For we 
are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and Lovers of 
we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth fui. 
we employ, not for talk and ostentation, but when there 
is a real use for it. To avow poverty with us is no dis- 
grace: the true disgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it. 
An Athenian citizen does not neglect the state because he 
takes care of his own household ; and even those of us who 
are engaged in business have a very fair idea of politics. 
We alone regard a man who takes no interest in public 
affairs, not as a harmless, but as a useless character; and 
if few of us are originators, we are all sound judges of a 
policy. The great impediment to action is, in our opin- 
ion, not discussion, but the want of that knowledge which 



208 The Age of Pericles 

is gained by discussion preparatory to action. For we 
have a peculiar power of thinking before we act and of 
acting too, whereas other men are courageous from igno- 
rance but hesitate upon reflection. And they are surely 
to be esteemed the bravest spirits who, having the clear- 
est sense both of the pains and pleasures of life, do not on 
Liberal for- that account shrink from danger. In doing good, again, 
we are unlike others; we make our friends by conferring, 
not by receiving favors. Now he who confers a favor is 
the firmer friend, because he would fain by kindness keep 
alive the memory of an obligation; but the recipient is 
colder in his feelings, because he knows that in requiting 
another's generosity he will not be winning gratitude, but 
only paying a debt. We alone do good to our neighbors 
not upon a calculation of interest but in the confidence 
of freedom and in a frank and fearless spirit. 

The "School " To sum up, I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, 
of Hellas." . 

and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems 

to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied 
forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. 
This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and 
the assertion is verified by the position to which these 
qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial 
Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the 
report of her. No enemy who comes against her is in- 
dignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hand of 
such a city; no subject complains that his masters are 
unworthy of him. And we shall assuredly not be without 
witnesses; there are mighty monuments of our power 
which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding 
ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of any 
other panegyrist whose poetry may please for the moment, 
although his representation of the facts will not bear the 



lb. 41. 



Studies 209 

light of day. For we have compelled every land and every 
sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted 
eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity." 

STUDIES 

1. Give an account of the family of Pericles. Describe his personal 
appearance. Who was his principal teacher, and for what was the 
latter noted? 

2. Why did Pericles hesitate to engage in politics? Why did he 
take the popular side? Describe his oratory. Was he unsocial by 
nature or on principle? Describe the government of Pericles. Give 
a reason why it should not be called a democracy. 

3. W T hat money was used for building temples and other public 
works? What objection was brought against this policy? How did 
Pericles defend his policy? What evidence does Plutarch find of the 
former greatness of Athens? How does his remark illustrate the 
fact that "archaeology confirms history"? What economic object 
had Pericles in mind? What industries contributed to these works? 
What is Plutarch's estimate of their artistic worth? Who were the 
artists? Describe the Odeum. What was the Propylaea, and where 
was it situated? 

4. Find on the map the places from which all the charioteers here 
mentioned came. Where did this race take place? Describe it in 
your own language. Where was Crisa? What was done with the 
dead body? What does Antigone talk with her sister about? What 
stand does Antigone take? Contrast the sisters in character. What 
gods are invoked as a help against the pestilence? What seems to be 
the spirit of the prayer? 

5. State definitely how the Athenians promised to treat the Chal- 
cidians. What are to be the duties of Chalcis to Athens? What 
cases were to be tried in Chalcis, and what cases appealed to Athens? 

6. From this passage write out all you can concerning the opening 
and procedure of the popular assembly. What was Justown aiming 
at? Why did he dislike the negotiations with Persia? Explain the 
negotiations with the Thracians. Why did Justown object to the 
bargain? How did he force the adjournment of the assembly? What 
is the historical value of this passage? 

7. Why should the old man so love jury service? Do all the jurors 



210 The Age of Pericles 

seem to be old men? What do the jurors say of their power? How 
are they treated by litigants and offenders? What becomes of the 
daily fee? 

8. Describe these two documents. What interest attaches to each? 

9. What objections has the " Old Oligarch " to the Athenian form of 
government? What was the condition of slaves and of alien residents 
in Athens? Why should the "Old Oligarch" find fault with this 
condition? What advantages does her naval supremacy bring to 
Athens? What disadvantages to others? 

10. What does Pericles consider the leading principles of democ- 
racy? Who were the authors of the selections in this chapter? 
What did they severally write, and what is the historical value of 
each? 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR TO THE SICILIAN 
EXPEDITION 

I. The Resources of the Contending Powers 

The Athenians now made preparations for war. The Prepara- 
Lacedaemonians and their allies made similar preparations. 
Both they and the Athenians meditated sending em- Thucydide. 
bassies to the king, and to the other barbarian potentates 
from whom either party might hope to obtain aid; they Greece, 190 ff.; 
likewise sought the alliance of independent cities outside world, 219 ff. 
their own dominion. The Lacedaemonians ordered their 
friends in Italy and Sicily, in addition to the ships which 
they had on the spot, to build others in number propor- 
tioned to the size of their cities ; for they intended to raise 
the Peloponnesian navy to a total of five hundred. The 
cities were also required to furnish a fixed sum of money; 
they were not to receive more than a single Athenian 
ship, but were to take no further measures until these 
preparations had been completed. The Athenians re- 
viewed their confederacy, and sent ambassadors to the 
places immediately adjacent to Peloponnesus — Corcyra, 
Cephallenia, Acarnania, and Zacynthus. They perceived 
that if they could only rely upon the friendship of these 
states, they might completely surround Peloponnesus 
with war. 

On neither side were there any mean thoughts; they Bot J si . des . 
were both full of enthusiasm; and no wonder, for all men 
are energetic when they are making a beginning. At that Thuc. ii. 8. 



212 



The Peloponnesian War 



The Hel- 
lenes favor 
Lacedaemon. 



The allies on 
both sides. 

lb. g. 



time the youth of Peloponnesus and the youth of Athens 
were numerous; they had never seen war, and were there- 
fore very willing to take up arms. All Hellas was excited 
by the coming conflict between her two chief cities. Many 
were the prophecies circulated and many the oracles 
chanted by diviners, not only in the cities about to engage 
in the struggle, but throughout Hellas. Quite lately the 
island of Delos had been shaken by an earthquake for the 
first time within the memory of the Hellenes; this was 
interpreted and generally believed to be a sign of coming 
events. And everything of the sort which occurred was 
curiously noted. 

The feeling of mankind was strongly on the side of the 
Lacedaemonians; for they professed to be the liberators of 
Hellas. Cities and individuals were eager to assist them 
to the utmost, both by word and deed; and where a man 
could not hope to be present, there it seemed to him that 
all things were at a stand. For the general indignation 
against the Athenians was intense; some were longing to 
be delivered from them, others fearful of falling under 
their sway. 

Such was the temper which animated the Hellenes, and 
such were the preparations made by the two powers for 
the war. Their respective allies were as follows: — The 
Lacedaemonian confederacy included all the Peloponnesians 
with the exception of the Argives and the Achaeans — they 
were both neutral; only the Achaeans of Pellene took part 
with the Lacedaemonians at first ; afterward all the Achaeans 
joined them. Beyond the borders of the Peloponnese, the 
Megarians, Phocians, Locrians, Boeotians, Ambraciots, 
Leucadians, and Anactorians were their allies. Of these 
states the Corinthians, Megarians, Sicyonians, Pellenians, 
Eleans, Ambraciots, and Leucadians provided a navy, the 



The Allies; Cleon's Policy 213 

Boeotians, Phocians and Locrians furnished cavalry, the 
other states only infantry. The allies of the Athenians 
were Chios, Lesbos, Plataea, the Messenians of Naupactus, 
the greater part of Acarnania, Corcyra, Zacynthus, and 
in many other countries cities which were their tribu- 
taries. There were the maritime region of Caria, the ad- 
jacent Dorian people, Ionia, the Hellespont, the Thracian 
coast, the islands that lie to the east within the line of 
Peloponnesus and Crete, including all the Cyclades with 
the exception of Melos and Thera. Chios, Lesbos, and 
Corcyra furnished a navy; the rest, land forces and money. 
Thus much concerning the two confederacies, and the 
character of their respective forces. 

II. Cleon's Policy of Terrorism 

In the former assembly, Cleon, the son of Cleaenetus, 2i° w 1 5 e 5 els 

had carried the decree condemning the Mytilenaeans to punished, 

death. He was the most violent of the citizens, and at Thucydides 
that time exercised by far the greatest influence over the . 

people. And now he came forward a second time and World, 222. 

Spoke as follows : — The revolt of 

"I have remarked again and again that a democracy been led by 

cannot manage an empire, but never more than now, Therel^no 

when I see you regretting your condemnation of the S ,ubt iJ ha 1 t H 

Mytilenaeans. Having no fear or suspicion of one an- be put to 

other in daily life, you deal with your allies upon the same question was 

principle, and you do not consider that whenever you yield ^dmfT^ 

to them out of pity or are misled by their specious tales, the commons, 

you are guilty of a weakness dangerous to yourselves, and taken little 

receive no thanks from them. You should remember that revolt" and 

your empire is a despotism exercised over unwilling sub- were in fact 

jects, who are always conspiring against you; they do not Athens. 



214 



The Peloponnesian War 



The Atheni- 
ans had 
condemned 
all to death, 
but the ques- 
tion was now 
reopened. 



The offence 
of Mytilene 
is especially 
heinous. 

Thucydides 
ii. 3Q. 



obey in return for any kindness which you do them to 
your own injury, but in so far as you are their masters; 
they have no love of you, but they are held down by 
force. Besides, what can be more detestable than to be 
perpetually changing our minds? We forget that a state 
in which the laws though imperfect are unalterable, is 
better off than one in which the laws are good but power- 
less. Dulness and modesty are a more useful combination 
than cleverness and licence; and the more simple sort 
generally make better citizens than the more astute. 
For the latter desire to be thought wiser than the laws; 
they want always to be taking a lead in the discussions 
of the assembly; they think that they can nowhere have a 
finer opportunity of speaking their mind, and their folly 
generally ends in the ruin of their country; whereas the 
others, mistrusting their own capacity, admit that the 
laws are wiser than themselves; they do not pretend to 
criticise the arguments of a great speaker; and being im- 
partial judges, not ambitious rivals, they are generally in 
the right. That is the spirit in which we should act; not 
suffering ourselves to be so excited by our own cleverness 
in a war of wits as to advise the Athenian people contrary 
to our own better judgment. . . . 

"I want you to put aside this trifling, and therefore I 
say to you that no single city has ever injured us so deeply 
as Mytilene. I can excuse those who find our rules too 
heavy to bear, or who have revolted because the enemy 
have compelled them. But islanders who had walls, and 
were unassailable by our enemies except at sea, and on 
that element were sufficiently protected by a fleet of their 
own, who were independent and treated by us with the 
highest regard, when they act thus they have not re- 
volted, (that word would imply that they were oppressed), 



All Mytilenasans Guilty 215 

but they have rebelled, and entering the ranks of our 
bitterest enemies, have conspired with them to seek our 
ruin. And surely this is far more atrocious than if they 
had been led by motives of ambition to take up arms 
against us on their own account. They learned nothing 
from the misfortunes of their neighbors who had already 
revolted and had been subdued by us, nor did the happi- 
ness of which they were in the enjoyment make them 
hesitate to court destruction. They trusted reckessly to 
the future, and cherishing hopes which, if less than their 
wishes, were greater than their powers, they went to war, 
preferring might to right. No sooner did they seem likely 
to win than they set upon us, although we were doing 
them no wrong. Too swift and sudden a rise is apt to 
make cities insolent, and in general, ordinary good-fortune 
is safer than extraordinary. Mankind apparently find it 
easier to drive away adversity than to retain prosperity. 
We should from the first have made no difference between 
the Mytilenaeans and the rest of our allies, and then their 
insolence would never have risen to such a height; for men 
naturally despise those who court them, but respect those 
who do not give way to them. Yet it is not too late to 
punish them as their crimes deserve. 

"And do not absolve the people while you throw the The people, 

h© Asserts 

blame upon the nobles. For they were all of one mind are as guilty 

when we were to be attacked. Had the people deserted fearers'. 

the nobles and come over to us, they might at this moment 

have been reinstated in their city; but they considered 

that their safety lay in sharing the dangers of the oligarchy, 

and therefore they joined in the revolt. Reflect: if you 

impose the same penalty upon those of your allies who 

wilfully rebel and upon those who are constrained by the 

enemy, which of them will not revolt upon any pretext 



216 The Peloponnesian War 

however trivial, seeing that if he succeed, he will be free, 

and if he fail, no irreparable evil will follow? We in the 

meantime shall have to risk our lives and our fortunes 

against every one in turn. When conquerors we shall 

recover only a ruined city, and for the future, the revenues 

which are our strength will be lost to us. But if we fail, 

the number of our adversaries will be increased. And 

when we ought to be employed in repelling our regular 

enemies, we shall be wasting time in righting against our 

own allies. 

Make an ex- "i n one word, if you do as I say, you will do what is 

ample of . ._ ' w . , . 

them. just to the Mytilenaeans, and also what is expedient for 

lb. 40. yourselves; but if you do take the opposite course, they will 

not be grateful to you, and you will be self-condemned. 
For if they were right in revolting, you must be wrong in 
maintaining your empire. But if right or wrong you are 
resolved to rule, then rightly or wrongly they must be 
chastised for your good. Otherwise you must give up 
your empire, and when virtue is no longer dangerous, you 
may be as virtuous as you please. Punish them as they 
would have punished you ; let not those who have escaped 
appear to have less feeling than those who conspired 
against them. Consider: what might not they have been 
expected to do if they had conquered? — especially since 
they were the aggressors. For those who wantonly attack 
others always rush into extremes, and sometimes, like 
these Mytilenaeans, to their own destruction. They know 
the fate which is reserved for them if their enemy is 
spared; when a man is injured without a cause he is more 
dangerous if he escape than the enemy who has only 
suffered what he has inflicted. Be true then to your- 
selves, and recall as vividly as you can what you felt at 
the time; think how you would have given the world to 



Studies 217 

crush your enemies, and now take your revenge. Do not 
be soft-hearted at the sight of their distress, but remember 
the danger which was once hanging over your heads. 
Chastise them as they deserve, and prove by an example 
to your other allies that rebellion will be punished with 
death. If this is made quite clear to them, your atten- 
tion will no longer be diverted from your enemies by wars 
against your own allies." 

STUDIES 

1. To what king did Athens and Sparta send embassies? What 
alliances did the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians respectively 
make, and what advantage did they expect therefrom? To what 
causes was due the high spirit of both sides? What was the religious 
feeling? Do people of to-day have similar feelings on such occasions? 

2. What was the relation of Athens toward her allies, according to 
Cleon? How much truth is there in his view? Who did he think 
were the best citizens? W T hat was the object of Cleon's speech? Why 
does he wish the commons of Mytilene punished? What policy was 
he trying to persuade Athens to adopt? What impression of his 
character does this speech make? 



CHAPTER XX 

FROM THE SICILIAN EXPEDITION TO THE END 
OF THE WAR 

I. The Departure of the Expedition 
The arma- About the middle of summer the expedition started for 

ment sails ,-,..1^1111 1 r ■, 

for Corcyra. Sicily. Orders had been previously given to most of the 

Thucydides allies, to the corn-ships, the smaller craft, and generally 

V1 - 3 °- to the vessels in attendance on the armament, that they 

Ancient should muster at Corcyra, whence the whole fleet was to 

World, 226-9; 

Greece, 208- strike across the Ionian Gulf to the promontory of Iapygia. 
Early in the morning of the day appointed for their de- 
parture, the Athenians and such of their allies as had 
already joined them went down to the Piraeus and began 
to man the ships. The entire population of Athens ac- 
companied them, citizens and strangers alike. The citi- 
zens came to take farewell, one of an acquaintance, an- 
other of a kinsman, another of a son; the crowd as they 
passed along were full of hope and full of tears; hope of 
conquering Sicily, tears because they doubted whether 
they would ever see their friends again, when they thought 
of the long voyage on which they were sending them. At 
the moment of parting the danger was nearer; and terrors 
which had never occurred to them when they were voting 
the expedition now entered into their souls. Neverthe- 
less their spirits revived at the sight of the armament in 
all its strength and of the abundant provision which they 
had made. The strangers and the rest of the multitude 

218 






Condition of the Fleet 219 

came out of curiosity, desiring to witness an enterprise of 
which the greatness exceeded belief. 
No armament so magnificent or costly had ever been Excellent 

1 1 tt n mi • 1. condition of 

sent out by any single Hellenic power. . . . I his expedi- the fleet. 

tion was intended to be long absent, and was thoroughly Thucydides 

provided both for sea and land service, wherever its 

presence might be required. On the fleet the greatest 

pains and expense had been lavished by the trierarchs 

and the state. The public treasury gave a drachma a 

day to each sailor, and furnished empty hulls for sixty 

swift sailing vessels, and for forty transports carrying 

hoplites. All these were manned with the best crews 

which could be obtained. The trierarchs, besides the pay 

given by the state, added somewhat more out of their 

own means to the wages of the upper ranks of rowers and 

of the petty officers. The figure-heads and other fittings 

provided by them were of the most costly description. 

Everyone strove to the utmost that his own ship might 

excel both in beauty and swiftness. The infantry had 

been well selected and the lists carefully made up. There 

was the keenest rivalry among the soldiers in the matter 

of arms and personal equipment. 

And while at home the Athenians were thus competing The cost, 
with one another in the performance of their several 
duties, to the rest of Hellas the expedition seemed to be a 
grand display of their power and greatness, rather than a 
preparation for war. If any one had reckoned up the 
whole expenditure (1) of the state, (2) of individual 
soldiers and others, including in the first not only what 
the city had already laid out, but what was intrusted to 
the generals, and in the second what either at the time or 
afterward private persons spent upon their outfit, or the 
trierarchs upon their ships, the provisions for the long 



A talent was 
about $1,200. 



The depart- 
ure. 



A paean of 
this kind 
was a battle 
song, gener- 
ally sung at 
the opening 
of the en- 
gagement. 



Athenian 
defeat. 

Thucydides 
vii. 72. 



220 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 

voyage which every one may be supposed to have carried 
over with him over and above his public pay, and what 
soldiers or traders may have taken for purposes of ex- 
change, he would have found that altogether an immense 
sum amounting to many talents was withdrawn from the 
city. Men were quite amazed at the boldness of the 
scheme and the magnificence of the spectacle, which 
were everywhere spoken of, no less than at the great dis- 
proportion of the force when compared with that of the 
enemy against whom it was intended. Never had a 
greater expedition been sent to a foreign land; never was 
there an enterprise in which the hope of future success 
seemed to be better justified by actual power. 

When the ships were manned and everything required 
for the voyage had been placed on board, silence was 
proclaimed by the sound of the trumpet, and all with 
one voice before setting sail offered up the customary 
prayers; these were recited not in each ship, but by a 
single herald, the whole fleet accompanying him. On 
every deck both officers and men, mingling wine in bowls, 
made libations from vessels of gold and silver. The 
multitude of citizens and other well-wishers who were 
looking on from the land joined in the prayer. The crews 
raised the Paean, and when the libations were completed 
put to sea. After sailing out for some distance in single 
file, the ships raced with one another as far as ^gina; 
thence they hastened onward to Corcyra, where the allies 
who formed the rest of the army were assembling. 

II. The Ruin of the Expedition 

Thus, after a fierce battle and a great destruction of 
ships and men on both sides, the Syracusans and their 
allies gained the victory. They gathered up the wrecks 



Disaster 221 

and bodies of the dead, and sailing back to the city, Ancient 

Wo/ld 2 ^o~ 

erected a trophy. The Athenians, overwhelmed by their 232; Greece, 
misery, never so much as thought of recovering their 2I5 * 
wrecks or of asking leave to collect their dead. Their in- 
tention was to retreat that very night. Demosthenes 
came to Nicias and proposed that they should once more 
man their remaining vessels and endeavor to force the 
passage at daybreak, saying that they had more ships fit 
for service than the enemy. For the Athenian fleet still 
numbered sixty but the enemy had less than fifty. Nicias 
approved of his proposal, and they would have manned 
the ships, but the sailors refused to embark; for they were 
paralyzed by their defeat, and had no longer any hope of 
succeeding. So the Athenians all made up their minds to 
escape by land. . . . 

Meanwhile the Syracusans and Gylippus, going forth The Athe- 
before them with their land forces, blocked the roads in treat is 
the country by which the Athenians were likely to pass, ocke ' 
guarded the fords of the rivers and streams, and posted Thucydides 
themselves at the best points for receiving and stopping 
them. Their sailors rowed up to the beach and dragged Gylippus was 

. . a Spartan in 

away the Athenian ships. The Athenians themselves command of 
burnt a few of them, as they had intended, but the rest yracuse - 
the Syracusans towed away, unmolested and at their 
leisure, from the places where they had severally run 
aground, and conveyed them to the city. . . . 
The Syracusans and their allies collected their forces The retreat- 

. . . mg army is 

and returned with the spoil, and as many prisoners as taken cap- 

they could take with them into the city. The captive 

Athenians and allies they deposited in the quarries, which vii "g^ ! 

they thought would be the safest place of confinement. c . hs - 75_S5 

. . give an ac- 

Nicias and Demosthenes they put to the sword against count of the 
the will of Gylippus. For Gylippus thought that to carry retreat of the 



222 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



Athenians, 
involving 
much fight- 
ing and suf- 
fering. 



Imprison- 
ment in the 
stone quar- 
ries. 

Thucydides 
vii. 87. 



home with him to Lacedemon the generals of the enemy, 
over and above all his other successes, would be a brilliant 
triumph. One of them, Demosthenes, happened to be 
the greatest foe, and the other, the greatest friend of the 
Lacedemonians, both in the same matter of Pylos and 
Sphacteria. For Nicias had taken up their cause, and had 
persuaded the Athenians to make the peace which had 
set at liberty the prisoners taken in the island, The 
Lacedemonians were grateful to him for the service, and 
this was the main reason why he trusted Gylippus and 
surrendered himself to him. But certain Syracusans, 
who had been in communication with him, were afraid 
(such was the report) that on some suspicion of their 
guilt he might be put to the torture and bring trou- 
ble on them in the hour of their prosperity. Others, 
and especially the Corinthians, feared that, being rich, 
he might by bribery escape and do them further mis- 
chief. So the Syracusans gained the consent of the 
allies and had him executed. For those or the like rea- 
sons he suffered death. No one of the Hellenes in my 
time was less deserving of so miserable an end; for he lived 
in the practice of every virtue. 

Those who were imprisoned in the quarries were at the 
beginning of their captivity harshly treated by the Syra- 
cusans. There were great numbers of them, and they 
were crowded in a deep and narrow place. At first the sun 
by day was still scorching and suffocating, for they had no 
roof over their heads, while the autumn nights were cold, 
and the extremes of temperature engendered violent dis- 
orders. Being cramped for room they had to do every- 
thing on the same spot. The corpses of those who died 
from their wounds or exposure to the weather, and the 
like, lay heaped one upon another. The smells were in- 



Ruin 223 

tolerable; and they were at the same time afflicted by 
hunger and thirst. During eight months they were al- 
lowed only about half a pint of water and a pint of food a 
day. Every kind of misery which could befall man in 
such a place befell them. This was the condition of all 
the captives for about ten weeks. At length the Syra- 
cusans sold them, with the exception of the Athenians and 
of any Sicilians or Italian Greeks who had sided with them 
in the war. The whole number of the public prisoners is 
not accurately known, but they were not less than seven 
thousand. 

Of all the Hellenic actions which took place in this war, 
or indeed of all the Hellenic actions which are on record 
this was the greatest — the most glorious to the victors, 
the most ruinous to the vanquished; for they were utterly 
and at all points defeated, and their sufferings were pro- 
digious. Fleet and army perished from the face of the 
earth; nothing was saved and of the many who went 
forth, few returned. 

Thus ended the Sicilian expedition. 

III. Alcibiades 

The pedigree of Alcibiades is said to begin with Eury- Family and 
saces the son of Ajax, while on the mother's side he de- 
scended from Alcmeon, being the son of Deinomache, the Plutarch, 
daughter of Megacles. His father Cleinias fought bravely 
at Artemisium in a trireme fitted out at his own expense, Ancient 
and subsequently fell fighting the Boeotians, in the battle 
of Coronea. Alcibiades was afterward intrusted to Pericles On Artemi- 

.... . . __ . . . . sium; Ancient 

and Anphron, the two sons of Aanthippus, who acted as World, 173 f. 
his guardians because they were the next of kin. . . . As corone a U was 
to the beauty of Alcibiades it is not necessary to say fought in 
anything except that it was equally fascinating when he 



224 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



Character. 
Plut., Ale. 2. 



Musical edu- 
cation. 



was a boy, a youth, and a man. The saying of Euripides, 
that all beauties have a beautiful autumn of their charms, 
is not universally true, but it was so in the case of Alci- 
biades and of a few other persons because of the symmetry 
and vigor of their frames. Even his lisp is said to have 
added a charm to his speech, and to have made his talk 
more persuasive. . . . 

His character, in the course of his varied and brilliant 
career, developed many strange inconsistencies and con- 
tradictions. Emulation and love of distinction were the 
most prominent of his many violent passions, as is clear 
from the anecdotes of his childhood. Once when hard- 
pressed in wrestling, rather than fall, he began to bite his 
opponent's hands. The other let go his hold, and said, 
"You bite, Alcibiades, like a woman." "No," said he, 
"like a lion." While yet a child, he was playing with 
other boys at knucklebones in a narrow street, and when 
his turn came to throw, a loaded wagon was passing. He 
at first ordered the driver to stop his team because his 
throw was to take place directly in the path of the wagon. 
Then as the boor who was driving would not stop, the 
other children made way; but Alcibiades flung himself 
down on his face directly in front of the horses, and bade 
him drive on at his peril. The man, in alarm, now stopped 
his horses, and the others were terrified and ran up to him. 

In learning he was fairly obedient to all his teachers, 
except in playing the flute, which he refused to do, de- 
claring that it was unfit for a gentleman. He said that 
playing on the harp or lyre did not disfigure the face, but 
that when a man was blowing at a flute, his own friends 
could scarcely recognize him. Furthermore the lyre ac- 
companies the voice of the performer while the flute takes 
all the breath of the player and prevents him from even 



Education of Alcibiades 225 

speaking. "Let the children of the Thebans," he used to 
say, "learn to play the flute, for they know not how to 
speak; but we Athenians according to tradition have the 
goddess Athena for our patroness, and Apollo for our 
tutelary divinity; and of these the first threw away her 
flute in disgust, and the other actually flayed the flute- 
player Marsyas." With such talk as this, between jest 
and earnest, Alcibiades gave up flute-playing himself, and 
induced his friends to do so, for all the youth of Athens 
soon heard and approved of Alcibiades' derision of the 
flute and of those who learned it. . . . 

For no one was ever so enclosed and enveloped in the A pupil of 
good things of this life as Alcibiades, so that no breath of 
criticism or free speech could ever reach him. Yet with lb. a- 
all these flatterers about him, trying to prevent his ever 
hearing a word of wholesome advice or reproof, he was led 
by his own goodness of heart to pay especial attention to 
Socrates, to whom he attached himself in preference to all 
his rich and fashionable admirers. 

He soon became intimate with Socrates, and when he 
discovered that this man did not wish to caress and admire 
him, but to expose his ignorance, search out his faults, 
and bring down his vain unreasoning conceit, he then 

"Let fall his feathers like a craven cock." 

He considered that the conversation of Socrates was 
really a divine instrument for the discipline and educa- 
tion of youth; and thus learning to despise himself, and 
to admire his friend, charmed with his good nature, and 
full of reverence for his virtues, he became insensibly in 
love with him, though not as the world loveth; so that all 
men were astonished to see him dining with Socrates, 
wrestling with him, and sharing his tent, while he treated 



226 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



His mar- 
riage. 



Plut., Ale. 8. 



His dog. 

lb. 9. 

A mina was 
about $20. 



Other pe- 
culiarities. 



lb. 16. 



all his other admirers with harshness and some even with 
insolence. . . . 

He once struck Hipponicus, the father of Callias, a man 
of great wealth and noble birth, a blow with his fist, not 
being moved to it by anger or any dispute, but having 
agreed previously with his friends to do so for a joke. 
When every one in the city cried out at his indecent and 
arrogant conduct, Alcibiades next morning at daybreak 
came to the house of Hipponicus, knocked and entered. 
Here he threw off his cloak, and offered him his body, bid- 
ding him flog him and punish him for what he had done. 
Hipponicus, however, pardoned him, and they became 
friends, so much so that Hipponicus chose him for the 
husband of his daughter Hipparete. Some writers say 
that not Hipponicus but Callias, his son, gave Hipparete 
to Alcibiades to wife, with a dowry of ten talents, and that 
when her first child was born, Alcibiades demanded and 
received ten more talents, as if he had made a previous 
agreement to that effect. Thereupon Callias, fearing that 
Alcibiades might plot against his life, gave public notice 
in the assembly that if he died childless, he would leave 
his house and all his property to the state. . . . 

He had a dog of remarkable size and beauty, for which 
he paid seventy minae. It had a very fine tail, which he 
cut off. When his friends blamed him, and said that 
every one was sorry for the dog and angry with him for 
what he had done, he laughed and said, "Then I have 
succeeded; for I wish the Athenians to gossip about this, 
for fear they should say something worse about me. ..." 

In the midst of all this display of political ability, elo- 
quence, and statesmanlike prudence, he lived a life of 
great luxury, debauchery, and profuse expenditure, swag- 
gering through the market-place with his long effeminate 



Character of Alcibiades 227 

mantle trailing on the ground. He had the deck of his 
trireme cut away, that he might sleep more comfortably, 
with his bed slung on girths instead of resting on the 
planks; and he carried a shield not emblazoned with the 
ancestral bearings of his family, but with a Cupid wield- 
ing a thunderbolt. The leading men of Athens viewed 
his conduct with disgust and apprehension, fearing his 
scornful and overbearing manner, as being nearly allied 
to the demeanor of a despot, while Aristophanes has ex- 
pressed the feeling of the people towards him in the line: 

"They love, they hate, they cannot live without him." 

And again he alludes to him in a bitterer spirit in the 
verse: 

"A lion's cub 'tis best you should not rear, 
"For if you do, your master he'll appear." . . . 

Alcibiades, among his extraordinary qualities, had this Adaptability, 
especial art of captivating men by assimilating his own lb. 23. 
manners and habits to theirs, being able to change, more 
quickly than the chameleon, from one mode of life to an- 
other. The chameleon, indeed, cannot turn itself white; 
but Alcibiades never found anything, good or bad, which 
he could not imitate to the life. Thus at Sparta, he was 
fond of exercise, frugal and severe; in Ionia he was luxuri- 
ous, frivolous, and lazy; in Thrace he drank deep; in 
Thessaly he proved himself a good horseman; while when 
he was consorting with the satrap Tissaphernes, he outdid 
even the Persian splendor and pomp. It was not his real 
character that he so often and so easily changed, but as 
he knew that if he appeared in his true colors, he would be 
universally disliked, he concealed his real self under an 
apparent adoption of the ways and fashions of whatever 
place he was in. . . . 



228 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



Assembly of 
Peloponne- 
sian allies. 

Xenophon, 
Hellenica, 



A ncient 
World, 237 f. 



The Athe- 
nian fleet had 
been de- 
stroyed at 
^Egospotami, 
and Athens 
had been re- 
duced to 
starvation 
by a long 
siege. 



Theramenes 
and others 
were ambas- 
sadors from 
Athens, who 
were treating 
for peace. 



IV. Terms of Peace 

A general assembly was convened, in which the Corin- 
thians and Thebans more particularly, though their views 
were shared by many other Hellenes also, urged the meet- 
ing not to come to terms with the Athenians, but to 
destroy them. The Lacedaemonians replied that they 
would never reduce to slavery a city which was itself an 
integral portion of Hellas, and had performed a great and 
noble service to Hellas in the most perilous of emergencies. 
On the contrary, they were willing to offer peace on the 
terms now specified — namely, "That the long walls and 
the fortifications of Piraeus should be destroyed; that the 
Athenian fleet, with the exception of twelve vessels, 
should be surrendered; that the exiles should be restored; 
and lastly, that the Athenians should acknowledge the 
headship of Sparta in peace and war, leaving to her the 
choice of friends and foes, and following her lead by land 
and sea." Such were the terms which Theramenes and 
the rest who acted with him were able to report on their 
return to Athens. 

As they entered the city, a vast crowd met them, 
trembling lest their mission should have proved fruitless. 
For indeed delay was no longer possible, so long already 
was the list of victims daily perishing from starvation. 
On the day following, the ambassadors delivered their 
report, stating the terms upon which the Lacedaemonians 
were willing to make peace. Theramenes acted as spokes- 
man, insisting that they ought to obey the Lacedaemonians 
and pull down the walls. A small minority raised their 
voice in opposition but the majority were strongly in 
favor of the proposition, and the resolution was passed to 
accept the peace. Afterward Lysander sailed into the 



Cloudcuckooland 



229 



Pirseus, and the exiles were readmitted. And so they fell The exiles 
to levelling the fortifications and walls with much en- garchs who 
thusiasm, to the accompaniment of female flute-players, banished for 

political 
reasons. 



deeming that day the beginning of liberty to Greece. 



V. Choral Songs from Tee Birds 



In this brilliant comedy Aristophanes pictures an ideal community 
founded by the birds in Cloudcuckooland. It presents the earliest 
known ideal state (414 B.C.), which in this case is a comic conceit, 
but which was to take a serious turn in Plato's Republic and Moore's 
Utopia. 

Awake! awake! 
Sleep no more, my gentle mate! 
With your tiny tawny bill, 
Wake the tuneful echo shrill 

On vale or hill; 
Or in her airy, rocky seat, 
Let her listen and repeat 

The tender ditty that you tell, 
The sad lament. 
The dire event, 
To luckless Itys that befell. 
Thence the strain 
Shall arise again, 
And soar amain, 
Up to the lofty palace gate, 
Where mighty Apollo sits in state; 
In Zeus' abode, with his ivory lyre, 
Hymning aloud to the heavenly choir. 
While all the gods shall join with thee 
In a celestial symphony. 

Ye gentle feathered tribes, 

Of every plume and hue, 
That, in uninhabited air, 
Are hurrying here and there; 

Oh! that I, like you, 



The Hoopoo 
to his Mate. 



The hoopoo 
and his mate 
(the nightin- 
gale) had 
once been 
human be- 
ings, man 
and wife. 
The wife 
had killed 
her son Itys 
and had 
served him 
as food to her 
husband be- 
cause the 
latter had 
wronged her. 

On Aristo- 
phanes; An- 
cient World, 
241; Greece, 
222 f. 

O to be a 
bird! 



230 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 

Could leave this earthly level, 
For a wild ae'rial revel: 

O'er the waste of ocean, 
To wander and to dally 

With the billow's motion; 
Or in an eager sally, 

Soaring to the sky, 

To range and rove on high 
With my plumy sails, 
Buffeted and baffled, with the gusty gales. 



The advan- 
tage of hav- 
ing wings. 

Here the 
chorus ques- 
tions the 
audience at 
the play. 



The poet 
gibes at the 
foreign-born 
among the 
citizens. 



Is there any person present sitting a spectator here, 
W r ho desires to pass his time freely without restraint or fear? 
Should he wish to colonize, he never need be checked or chid, 
For the trifling indiscretions, which the testy laws forbid. 
Parricides are in esteem; among the birds we deem it fair, 
A combat honorably fought betwixt a game-cock and his heir! 
There the branded runagate, branded and mottled in the face, 
Will be deemed a motley bird; a motley mark is no disgrace. 
Spintharus, the Phrygian born, will pass a muster there 
ease, 
Counted as a Phrygian fowl; and even Execestides, 
Once a Carian and a slave, may there be nobly born and free; 
Plume himself on his descent and hatch a proper pedigree. 



with 



Thus the swans in chorus follow, 
On the mighty Thracian stream, 
Hymning their eternal theme. 

Praise to Bacchus and Apollo: 

The welkin rings, with sounding wings, 

With songs and cries and melodies; 

Up to the thunderous /Ether ascending: 



Whilst all that breathe, on earth beneath, 

The beasts of the wood, the plain and the flood, 

In panic amazement are crouching and bending; 
With the awful qualm, of a sudden calm, 

Ocean and air in silence blending. 



The Good Old Education 231 

The ridge of Olympus is sounding on high, 
Appalling with wonder the lords of the sky, 

And the Muses and Graces 

Enthroned in their places, 
Join in the solemn symphony. 

Nothing can be more delightful than the having wings to wear! Just as we 
A spectator sitting here, accommodated with a pair, for^reSS 
Might for instance (if he found a tragic chorus dull and heavy) 
Take his flight, and dine at home; and if he did not choose to leave ye, 
Might return in better humor, when the weary drawl was ended. . . . 
Trust me, wings are all in all! Diitrephes has mounted quicker He made his 
Than the rest of our aspirants, soaring on his wings of wicker: a basket- 
Basket work and crates, and hampers, first enabled him to fly; ~? aver : 
First a captain, then promoted to command the cavalry; cratic poet 
With his fortunes daily rising, office and preferment new, jeers at the 
An illustrious, enterprising, airy, gallant cockatoo. das^ "* 



VI. The Good Old Education 

Just Cause. I will, therefore, describe the ancient sys- The good- 
tern of education, how it was ordered, when I flourished boys of old! 
in the advocacy of justice, and temperance was the fashion. Aristophanes, 
In the first place, it was incumbent that no one should Clouds, gtiQ. 
hear the voice of a boy uttering a syllable; and next, that The Just 
those from the same quarter of the town should march in the Unjust 
good order through the streets to the school of the Harp- herTpiead- 
master, lightly clad and in a body, even if it were to snow jj| for rivile 
as thick as meal. Then again their master would teach of instructing 
them, not sitting cross-legged, to learn by rote a song, 
either "Pallas Athena, Dread Sacker of Towns" or " Some 
Farborne Battle-Cry," raising to a higher pitch the harmony 
which our fathers transmitted to us. But if any of them 
were to play the buffoon, or turn any quavers, like these 
difficult turns the present artists make after the manner 
of Phrynis, he used to be thrashed, beaten with many 



What to 
avoid. 



Iapetus, as 
we might 
call one an 
antediluvian. 



The Academy 
was a beauti- 
ful public 
garden a 
short dis- 
tance north- 
west of 
Athens; 
Greece, 157. 



232 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 

blows, for banishing the Muses. . . . Nor used it to be 
allowed, when one was dining, to take the head of a 
radish, or to snatch from their seniors dill or parsley, or 
to eat fish, or to giggle, or to keep the legs crossed. . . . 

Yet certainly these are the principles by which my sys- 
tem of education nurtured the men who fought at Mara- 
thon. But you teach the men of the present day, from 
their earliest years, to be wrapped up in himatia. . . . 
Wherefore, O youth, choose, with confidence, me, the 
better cause, and you will learn to hate the market-place, 
and to refrain from baths, and to be ashamed of what is 
disgraceful, and to be enraged if anyone jeer you, and to 
rise up from seats before your seniors when they approach, 
and not to behave ill toward your parents, and to do 
nothing else that is base, because you are to form in your 
mind an image of Modesty; .... and not to contradict 
your father in anything; nor by calling him Iapetus, to 
reproach him with the ills of age, by which you were 
reared in your infancy. 

Unjust Cause. If you shall believe him in this, 
youth, by Bacchus, you will be like the sons of Hippo- 
crates, and they will call you a booby. 

Just. Yet certainly shall you spend your time in the 
gymnastic schools, sleek, and blooming; not chattering 
in the market-place rude jests, like the youths of the 
present day; nor dragged into court for a petty suit, 
greedy, petty-fogging, knavish; but you shall descend to 
the Academy and run races beneath the sacred olives 
along with some modest compeer, crowned with white 
reeds, redolent of yew and careless ease and of leaf 
shedding white poplar, rejoicing in the season of spring, 
when the plane-tree whispers to the elm. If you do these 
things which I say, and apply your mind to these, you will 



Alcestis 



233 



ever have a stout chest, a clear complexion, broad shoul- 
ders, a little tongue. . . . But if you practice what the 
youths of the present day do, you will have, in the first 
place, a pallid complexion, small shoulders, a narrow chest, 
a large tongue, little hips. . . . And this deceiver will 
persuade you to consider everything that is base to be 
honorable, and what is honorable to be base. 



VII. Selections from Euripides 

Chorus. Let Hades know, that swarthy god, and that 
old man who sits to row and steer alike at his death-ferry, 
that he hath carried o'er the lake of Acheron in his two- 
oared skiff a woman peerless amidst her sex. Oft of thee 
the Muses' votaries shall sing on the seven-stringed moun- 
tain shell and in hymns that need no harp, glorifying thee, 
oft as the season in his cycle cometh around at Sparta in 
that Carnean month when all night long the moon sails 
high o'erhead, yea, and in splendid Athens, happy town. 
So glorious a theme has thy death bequeathed to tuneful 
bards. Would it were in my power and range to bring 
thee to the light from the chambers of Hades and the 
streams of Cocytus with the oar that sweeps yon nether 
flood! For thou, and thou alone, most dear of women, 
hadst the courage to redeem thy husband from Hades in 
exchange for thy own life. Light lie the earth above thee, 
lady! And if ever thy lord take to him a new wife, I vow 
he will earn my hatred and thy children's too. . . . 

Admetus. O the weary sorrow! O the grief for dear 
ones dead and gone! Why didst thou hinder me from 
plunging into the gaping grave, there to lay me down and 
die with her, my peerless bride? Then would Hades for 
that one have gotten these two faithful souls at once, 
crossing the nether lake together. 



Alcestis dies 
in place of 
her hus- 
band. 

Euripides, 
Alcestis. 

Ancient 
World, 241; 
Greece, 219- 

222. 

The Carnea 
was a great 
festival at 
Sparta. 

Cocytus, a 
river of 
Epirus, here 
thought of 
as a river of 
the lower 
world. 



Her husband 
is Admetus. 



Admetus 
now regrets 
that he let 
her die for 
him. 



234 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



Pelion, a 
mountain in 
Thessaly. 



He prefers 
to die. 



Cho. I had a kinsman once, within whose home died 
his only son, worthy of a father's tears; yet in spite of that 
he bore his grief resignedly, childless though he was, his 
hair already turning grey, himself far on in years, upon 
life's downward track. 

Adm. O house of mine, how can I enter thee? How 
can I live here, now that fortune turns against me? Ah 
me! How wide the gulf 'twixt then and now! Then with 
torches cut from Pelion's pines, with marriage hymns I 
entered in, holding my dear wife's hand; and at our back 
a crowd of friends with cheerful cries, singing the happy 
lot of my wife and me, calling us a noble pair made one, 
children both of highborn lineage; but now the voice of 
woe instead of wedding hymns, and robes of black in- 
stead of snowy white, usher me into my house to my 
deserted couch. 

Chor. Hard upon prosperous fortune came this sorrow 
to thee, a stranger to adversity; yet hast thou saved thy 
soul alive. Thy wife is dead and gone; her love she leaves 
with thee. What new thing is here? Death ere now from 
many a man hath torn a wife. 

Adm. My friends, I count my dead wife's lot more 
blest than mine, for all it seems not so; for nevermore can 
sorrow touch her forever; all her toil is over, and glorious 
is her fame. While I, who had no right to live, have 
passed the bounds of fate only to live a life of misery; I 
know it now. For how shall I endure to enter this my 
house? Whom shall I address, by whom be answered 
back, to find aught joyful in my entering in? Whither 
shall I turn? Within, the desolation will drive me forth, 
whensoever I see my widowed couch, the seat whereon 
she sat, the floor all dusty in the house, and my babes 
falling at my knees with piteous tears for their mother, 



Ion 



235 



while my servants mourn the good mistress their house 
hath lost. These are the sorrows in my home, while 
abroad the marriages among Thessalians and the throng- 
ing crowds of women will drive me mad, for I can never 
bear to gaze upon the compeers of my wife. And whoso 
is my foe will taunt me thus, "Behold him living in his 
shame, a wretch who quailed at death himself, but of his 
coward heart gave up his wedded wife instead, and es- 
caped from Hades; doth he deem himself a man after 
that? And he loathes his parents, though himself refused 
to die." Such ill reports shall I to my evils add. What 
profit then, my friends, for me to live, in fame and fortune 
ruined. 



That princely state we fondly praise is pleasant to the 
eye; but yet in its mansions sorrow lurks; for who is happy, 
or by fortune blest, that has to live his life in fear of vio- 
lence with many a sidelong glance? Rather would I live 
among the common folk, and taste their bliss, than be a 
tyrant who delights in making evil men his friends, and 
hates the good, in terror of his life. Perchance thou wilt 
tell me, "Gold outweighs all these evils and wealth is 
sweet." I have no wish to be abused for holding tightly 
to my pelf, nor yet to have the trouble of it. Be mine a 
moderate fortune free from annoyance! Now hear the 
blessings, father, that here were mine; first, leisure, man's 
chiefest joy, with but moderate trouble; no villain ever 
drove me from my path, and that is a grievance hard to 
bear, to make room and give way to sorry knaves. My 
duty was to pray unto the gods, or with mortal men con- 
verse, a minister to their joys, not to their sorrows. And 
I was ever dismissing one group of guests, while another 
took their place, so that I was always welcome from the 



A humble 
office is bet 
ter than a 
crown. 

Euripides, 
Ion. 



He is a priest 
of his father 
Apollo at 
Delphi, but 
has been 
asked to take 
the kingship 
at Athens. 



236 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 

charm of novelty. That honesty which men must pray 
for, even against their will, custom and nature did con- 
spire to plant in me in the sight of Phcebus. Now when 
I think on this, I deem that I am better here than there, 
father. So let me live on here, for 'tis an equal charm to 
joy in high estate, or in a humble fortune find a pleasure. 



Socrates is 
addressing 
the jury. 

Plato, Apolo- 
gy of Socrates. 

Ancient 
World, 243-5; 
Greece, 223-6. 



Anytus is one 
of his accus- 
ers. 



Socrates' 
method of 
seeking the 
truth. 



The true 
object of 
life. 



VIII. Defence of Socrates 

Some one will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, 
of a course of life which is likely to bring you to an un- 
timely end? To him I may fairly answer: There you are 
mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to 
calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to 
consider whether he in doing anything is doing right or 
wrong — acting the part of a good man or of a bad. . . . 

And therefore if you let me go now, and are not con- 
vinced by Anytus, who said that since I had been prose- 
cuted I must be put to death; or if not that, I ought never 
to have been prosecuted at all; and that if I escape now, 
your sons will all be utterly ruined by listening to my 
words — if you say to me, Socrates, this time we will not 
mind Anytus, and you shall be let off, but upon one con- 
dition, that you are not to inquire and speculate in this 
way any more, and that if you are caught doing so again 
you shall die; — if this were the condition on which you 
let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honor and 
love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while 
I have life and strength I shall never cease from the 
practice and teaching of philosophy, exhorting every one 
whom I meet and saying to him after my manner: You 
my friend, — a citizen of the great and mighty and wise 
city of Athens, — are you not ashamed of heaping up the 
greatest amount of money and honor and reputation, and 



The Worth of the Soul 237 

caring so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest 
improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed 
at all? And if the person with whom I am arguing says: 
Yes, but I do care; then I do not leave him or let him go 
at once; but I proceed to interrogate and examine and 
cross-examine him, and if I think that he has no virtue 
in him, but only says that he has, I reproach him with 
undervaluing the greater, and overvaluing the less. And 
I shall repeat the same words to everyone I meet, young 
and old, citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, 
inasmuch as they are my brethren. For know that this 
is the command of God; and I believe that no greater 
good has ever happened in the state than my service to 
God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, 
old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons 
or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the 
greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue 
is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money 
and every other good of man, public as well as private. 
This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which cor- 
rupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. But if any 
one says that this is not my teaching, he is speaking an 
untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, do 
as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit 
me or not ; but whichever you do, understand that I never 
shall alter my ways, not even if I have to die many 
times. . . . 

Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there Death is not 
is great reason to hope that death is a good; for one of 
two things — either death is a state of nothingness and 
utter unconsciousness, or as men say, there is a change and 
migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if 
you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep 



238 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 



The judges 
of the other 
world are 
just. 



There we 
shall meet 
the famous 
men of old. 



like the sleep of him who is even undisturbed by dreams, 
death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were 
to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even 
by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days 
and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many 
days and nights he had passed in the course of his life 
better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any 
man, I will not say a private man, but even the great 
king, will not find many such days or nights, when com- 
pared with the others. Now if death be of such a nature, 
I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single 
night. 

But if death is the journey to another place, and there, 
as men say, all the dead abide, what good, O my friends 
and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the 
pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from 
the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true 
judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and 
Rhadamanthus and ^Eacus and Triptolemus, and other 
sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that 
pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man 
give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and 
Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again 
and again. I myself, too, shall have a wonderful interest 
in there meeting and conversing with Palamedes, and 
Ajax the son of Telamon, and any other ancient hero who 
has suffered death through an unjust judgment; and there 
will- be no small pleasure, as I think, in comparing my 
own sufferings with theirs. Above all, I shall then be 
able to continue my search into true and false knowledge, 
as in this world so also in the next; and I shall find out 
who is wise, and who pretends to be wise, and is not. 
What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to ex- 



Future Life; the Erechtheum 239 

amine the leader of the great Trojan expedition; or 
Odysseus, or Sisyphus, or numberless others, men and 
women, too! What infinite delight would there be in 
conversing with them and asking them questions! In 
another world they do not put a man to death for asking 
questions: assuredly not. For besides being happier than 
we are, they will be immortal, if what is said is true. . . . 
The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways — 
I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows. 



IX. The Erechtheum and the Worship of Athena 

There is also a building called the Erechtheum. Before 
the entrance is an altar of Supreme Zeus, where they sacri- 
fice no living thing; but they lay cakes on it, and having 
done so they are forbidden by custom to make use of wine. 
Inside of the building are altars: one of Poseidon, on which 
they sacrifice also to Erechtheus in obedience to an oracle ; 
one of the hero Butes; and one of Hephaestus. On the 
walls are paintings of the family of the Butads. Within, 
for the building is double, there is sea-water in a well. 
This is not surprising, for the same thing may be seen in 
inland places, as at Aphrodisias in Caria. But what is 
remarkable about this well is that, when the south wind 
has been blowing, the well gives forth a sound of waves; 
and there is the shape of a trident in the rock. These 
things are said to have been the evidence produced by 
Poseidon in support of his claim to the country. 

The rest of the city and the whole land are equally 
sacred to Athena; for although the worship of other gods 
is established in the townships, the inhabitants none the 
less hold Athena in honor. But the object which was 
universally deemed the holy of holies many years before 
the union of the townships, is an image of Athena in what 



Interior of 
the temple. 

Pausanias, i. 
26. 

Ancient 
World, 239. 



The Butads 
were the 
priestly gens 
which at- 
tended to the 
worship of 
Poseidon. 



Ancient 
World, 93. 



240 Sicilian Expedition to End of War 

is now called the Acropolis, but what was then called the 
city. The legend is that the image fell from heaven, but 
whether this was so or not I will not inquire. 

STUDIES 

i. With what feelings did the Athenians despatch the expedition 
to Sicily? Describe the condition of the armament. What cere- 
monies attended the departure? What was to be the course of the 
fleet? Why was this route taken? 

2. Who were Demosthenes and Nicias (Ancient World, 229, 231)? 
Why did not the defeated Athenians sail away from Syracuse? De- 
scribe the fate of the Athenians? 

3. Describe the appearance of Alcibiades; his character. What 
characteristics are illustrated by the two anecdotes of his childhood? 
What was his musical education? What objections had he to the 
flute? What influence had Socrates over him? What light do the 
circumstances of his marriage throw upon his character? What 
general impression of him do you gain from this entire passage from 
Plutarch? 

4. What were the terms of peace at the close of the Peloponnesian 
war? Were they warranted by the circumstances? Who was Ly- 
sander? 

5. On what subjects did Aristophanes write? What does he think 
of his fellow-citizens of alien birth? Were there many such at Athens? 
What opinion had he of manufacturers? 

6. What qualities of the old kind of education does the "Just 
Cause" think admirable? What advantages accrue from the good 
old kind of education? 

7. Describe the character of Alcestis. What was the sentiment as 
to second marriages? What was the feeling of Admetus toward his 
deceased wife? What is his view of death? What is the leading idea 
in the selection from the Ion? 

8. What had been Socrates' daily occupation? What had he been 
trying to teach his fellow-citizens? On what charge was he tried? 
What did he think of death? What did he hope to do in the next 
world? Who is the author of this passage, and what connection had 
he with Socrates? 

9. What objects of interest did Pausanias find in the Erechtheum? 
Why was the building double? 



CHAPTER XXI 



SICILY: THE TYRANT AND THE LIBERATOR 



I. Preparation for War with Carthage 

Having now a good opportunity to wage war against 
them, (the Carthaginians), as he thought, he resolved first 
to make the necessary preparation; for he understood that 
the contest would be great and of long duration, as he was 
about to engage with the most powerful nation that had a 
footing in Europe. He accordingly collected artisans, by 
a levy, from all the cities under his rule, and others from 
Italy and Greece and from the Carthaginian dominion, 
attracting them by the offer of high wages. 

And he aimed also to provide a vast number of arms 
and missiles of every description, and in addition quadri- 
remes and quinqueremes, none of the latter ever having 
been built up to that time. After a great number of ar- 
tisans had been collected he organized them in companies 
according to their several trades, and placed them under 
the superintendence of the most respectable citizens, of- 
fering great rewards to the makers of arms. Inasmuch as 
mercenaries had been brought together from various na- 
tions, he himself assigned the arms according to their 
several forms and fashions; for he encouraged each soldier 
to equip himself with his own weapons; as he reasoned 
that thus the army would strike great terror in the enemy, 
and that in battle the contestants would best know how 
to use their customary equipments. 

241 



Dionysius 

collects 

workmen. 

Diodorus 
xiv. 41. 

This war be- 
gan in 397 
B.C.; Ancient 
World, 247 f.; 
Greece, 242 f. 



He provides 
arms and 
warships. 



His ship- 
wrights in- 
vent quin- 
queremes. 



',42 Sicily: the Tyrant and the Liberator 



Enthusiasm 
of the Syra- 
cusans. 



The tyrant 

becomes 

popular. 

Diodorus 
xiv. 42. 

Catapult, a 
huge cross- 
bow for 
hurling 
heavy bolts; 
afterward so 
modified as 
to throw 
stones and 
lumps of 
lead. Here- 
tofore the 
only siege 
engine was 
the battering 
ram. 



The wood 
was needed 
for the ships. 



As the Syracusans did all in their power to forward his 
design, the greatest emulation was shown in the prepara- 
tion. Not only were the front and back porches of the 
temples, the gymnasia, and the porticoes of the market- 
place filled with workmen, but also apart from public 
places, in the most illustrious private houses arms of all 
kinds were being manufactured. 

At this time the catapult was invented in Syracuse, for 
the most excellent artisans were gathered here from all 
sides. Zeal was inflamed by the high wages, and the great- 
ness of the rewards that awaited those who were judged 
superior. In addition to these inducements Dionysius 
himself went daily among the workmen, talked courte- 
ously with them, honored the most diligent with gifts, or 
invited them to dine with him. The mechanics, there- 
fore, vying with each other in the utmost rivalry, devised 
new and strange missiles and engines which proved ex- 
ceedingly serviceable. He began, too, to build quadri- 
remes and quinqueremes, being the first to invent this 
kind of ship. For hearing that the first triremes were 
built in Corinth, Dionysius was anxious that a colony of 
hers should have credit for extending the plan of the war 
ship. After arranging to obtain a supply of wood from 
Italy, he sent half of his woodcutters to Mount Etna, 
which then abounded with pine and fir, and the other half 
to Italy; and provided teams for hauling the wood to the 
sea, and boats and oarsmen to bring the rafts as speedily 
as possible to Syracuse. 

When Dionysius had thus collected a sufficient supply 
of wood, he forthwith began to build more than two 
hundred war ships and to refit the hundred and ten old 
ones. Furthermore he erected expensive holds round the 
harbor, for receiving the ships, to the number of one hun- 



Dionysius I 243 

dred and sixty, many of which would receive two ships 
apiece. He likewise repaired and covered over with new- 
planks one hundred and fifty old and useless vessels. 

The preparation of so many arms and ships in one The amaz- 
locality struck the beholder with admiration. If in fact a ^Syracuse, 
man only noticed the attention bestowed on the ships, he Ib 43 
would presently conclude that all the Sicilians were en- 
gaged in building them; and then to turn and look upon 
the army and engines, he would judge that there the 
height of skill was expended on them. The zeal devoted 
to them could not be surpassed, yet there were prepared 
in addition 140,000 bucklers, and as many swords and 
helmets. There were forged, too, 14,000 corselets of all Tne impor- 

1 , • rZ • 1 tance of these 

sorts of excellent workmanship. These equipments he preparations 
assigned to the horse and to the colonels and captains of facVthat 6 
the foot, and to the mercenaries who formed his lifeguard. *£?? en . abIed 

7 ° Dionysius to 

He prepared likewise catapults of all kinds and a vast stem the tide 

number of missiles. The city of Syracuse provided one g i n ian inva- 

half of the galleys with captains, pilots, and oarsmen of menaced h not 

their own citizens. For the rest Dionysius hired foreigners, only Sicily, 

After all the ships and arms were ready and complete, he Ancient 

began to call his soldiers together; for he thought it ad- w ' 249 " 
visable not to hire them long in advance, that he might 
avoid expense. 

II. The Old Age of Timoleon 

In this fashion the tyrannies were put down by Timo- The libera- 

leon, and the wars finished. The whole island, which had pieted. 

become a mere wilderness through the constant wars and pi u tarch, 

was grown hateful to the very natives, under his adminis- Timoleon, 35. 

tration became so civilized and desirable a country that Greece, 246- 

colonists sailed to it from those very places to which its World, 249 f. 
own citizens had formerly betaken themselves to escape 



244 Sicily : the Tyrant and the Liberator 



Respect for 
the Libera- 
tor. 



His private 
life. 

Plut, Tim., 
36. 



A passage 
here omitted 
speaks of his 
becoming 
blind. 



His popular- 
ity and in- 
fluence. 

Plut., Tim., 
38. 



from it. For Acragas and Gela, large cities, which after 
the war with Athens had been destroyed by the Cartha- 
ginians, were now repeopled. . . . 

While these cities were being reorganized, Timoleon 
not only afforded them peace and safety, but also gave 
them great assistance, and showed so keen an interest in 
them that he was loved and respected by them as their 
real Founder. All the other cities also looked upon him 
with the same feelings, so that no peace could be made by 
them, no laws established, no country divided among 
settlers, no constitutional changes made that seemed 
satisfactory, unless he had a hand in them, and arranged 
them just as an architect, when a building is finished, 
gives some graceful touches which adorn the whole. . . . 

He lived in a house which the Syracusans had bestowed 
upon him as a special prize for his successes as general, 
and also the most beautiful and pleasant country seat, 
where indeed he spent most of his leisure with his wife and 
children, whom he had sent for from Corinth. For he 
never returned to Corinth, nor mixed himself in the 
troubles of Greece, nor did he expose himself to the hatred 
of political faction, which is the rock upon which great 
generals commonly split in their insatiate thirst for honor 
and power; but he remained in Sicily, enjoying the bless- 
ings of which he was the author; the greatest of which 
was to see so many cities, and so many tens of thousands, 
all made happy and prosperous by his means. . . . 

That he endured his misfortune without repining is not 
to be wondered at; but one must admire the respect and 
love shown him when blind by the people of Syracuse. 
They constantly visited him, and brought with them any 
strangers that might be staying with them, both to his 
town and country house, to show them their benefactor, 



Timoleon 245 

glorying in the fact that he had chosen to spend his life 
amongst them, and had scorned the magnificent recep- 
tion which his exploits would have ensured him had he re- 
turned to Greece. Of the many important tributes to his 
worth none was greater than the decree of the Syracusans, 
that whenever they should be engaged in war with foreign 
tribes they would have a Corinthian for their general. 
Great honor was also reflected upon him by their conduct 
in the public assembly ; for though they managed ordinary 
business by themselves, on the occasion of any important 
debate they used to call him in. Then he would drive 
through the market-place into the theatre; and when the 
carriage in which he sat was brought in, the people would 
rise and salute him with one voice. Having returned their 
greeting, and allowed a short time for their cheers and 
blessings, he would hear the disputed point debated, and 
then give his opinion. When this had been voted upon, 
his servants would lead his carriage out of the theatre, 
while the citizens, cheering and applauding him as he 
went, proceeded to despatch their other business without 
him. 

Cherished in his old age with such respect and honor. His death 
as the common father of his country, Timoleon at length funeral. ° 
after a slight illness died. Some time was given for the Ib 3Q 
Syracusans to prepare his funeral, and for neighbors and 
foreigners to assemble, so that the ceremony was per- 
formed with great splendor. The bier, magnificently 
adorned, and carried by young men chosen by lot, passed 
over the place where the Castle of Dionysius had once 
been pulled down. The procession was joined by tens of 
thousands of men and women, whose appearance was 
gay enough for a festival, for they all wore garlands and 
white robes. Their lamentations and tears, mingled with 



246 Sicily : the Tyrant and the Liberator 



He is to be 
worshipped 
as a hero. 

It was cus- 
tomary thus 
to worship 
the founder 
of a city. 



their praises of the deceased, showed that they were not 
performing this ceremony as a matter of mere outward 
respect and compliance with a decree, but that they ex- 
pressed real sorrow and loving gratitude. At last, when 
the body was placed upon the pyre, Demetrius, the loudest- 
voiced of the heralds at that time, read aloud the follow- 
ing decree: 

"The Syracusan people solemnise, at the cost of two 
hundred minae, the funeral of this man, the Corinthian 
Timoleon, son of Timodemus. They have passed a vote 
to honor him for all future time with festival matches in 
music, horse and chariot races, and gymnastics, because 
after having put down the despots, subdued the foreign 
enemy, and recolonized the greatest among the ruined 
cities, he restored to the Sicilian Greeks their constitution 
and laws." 

STUDIES 

1. From this selection what preparations seem to have been 
necessary for any great war? What did Dionysius have that had 
never been used before? How could old ships be refitted? How did 
the Syracusans show their zeal for the war? How can you account 
for this feeling and for the popularity of Dionysius? What was at 
stake in the war? When did the writer of this selection live and from 
what source did he draw his information? 

2. Why was Timoleon so highly honored? Enumerate the kinds of 
work in which he had a hand after the establishment of peace. How 
did they repay him for his services? What do you infer as to his 
character? 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA 

I. The Fall of the Thirty 

Presently Thrasybulus with about seventy followers The patriots 
sallied out from Thebes, and made himself master of the 

fortress of Phyle. The weather was brilliant, and the Xenophon, 

Thirty marched out of the city to repel the invader; with a. 4 . 
them were the Three Thousand and the Knights. When 

they reached the place, some of the young men, in the ? ree f e ' 25I_ 

foolhardiness of youth, made a dash at the fortress, but World, 253. 
without effect; all they got was wounds and so retired. 

The intention of the Thirty now was to blockade the These pa- 

J tnots Had 

place; by shutting off all the avenues of supply they been exiled 
thought to force the garrison to capitulate. But this Thirty, and 
project was interrupted by a steady downfall of snow that ™tu e rn n in w b 
night and the following day. Baffled by this all-pervading force, 
enemy, they beat a retreat to the city but not without the 
sacrifice of many of their camp followers, who fell a prey 
to the men in Phyle. The next anxiety of the government 
in Athens was to secure the farms and country houses 
against the plunderings and forays to which they would 
be exposed, if there were no armed force to protect them. 
With this object a protecting force was despatched to the 
"boundary estates" about two miles this side of Phyle. 
This corps consisted of the Lacedemonian guards, or Tn ? Thirty 

. „ . . . .. . . , . mi had received 

nearly all of them, and two divisions of horse. They en- from Sparta 
camped in a wild and broken district, and the round of g Ua ?ds for 
their duties commenced. protection. 

247 



2 4 8 



The Supremacy of Sparta 



The patriots 
attack the 
camp of the 
enemy. 



Hoplites are 
heavy-armed 
infantry. 



The patriots 
occupy Pei- 
rseus. 



Ancient 
World, i Q3. 



But by this time the small garrison above them had 
increased tenfold, until there were now about seven 
hundred men collected in Phyle; and with this force 
Thrasybulus one night descended. When he was not quite 
half a mile from the enemy's encampment he grounded 
arms, and a deep silence was maintained until it drew 
toward day. In a little while the men opposite, one by 
one, were getting to their legs or leaving the camp for 
necessary purposes, while a suppressed din and murmur 
arose, caused by the grooms currying and combing their 
horses. This was the moment for Thrasybulus and his 
men to snatch up their arms and make a dash at the 
enemy's position. Some they felled on the spot; and 
routing the whole body, pursued them six or seven stadia, 
killing one hundred and twenty hoplites and more. Of 
the cavalry, Nicostratus, "the beautiful," as men called 
him, and two others besides were slain; they were caught 
while still in their beds. Returning from the pursuit, the 
victors set up a trophy, got together all the arms they had 
taken, besides baggage, and retired again to Phyle. A 
reinforcement of horse sent from the city could not dis- 
cover the vestige of a foe, but waited on the scene of 
battle until the bodies of the slain had been picked up by 
their relatives, whereupon they withdrew again to the 
city. . . . 

But now Thrasybulus at the head of his followers, by 
this time about one thousand strong, descended from 
Phyle and reached Peiraeus in the night. The Thirty, on 
their side, informed of this new move, were not slow to 
come to the rescue with the Laconian guards, supported 
by their own cavalry and hoplites. And so they ad- 
vanced, marching down along the broad carriage road 
which leads into Peiraeus. The men from Phyle seemed 



The Battle in Peiraeus 249 

at first inclined to dispute their passage, but as the wide 

circuit of the walls needed a defence beyond the reach of 

their still scanty numbers, they fell back in a compact 

body upon Munychia. Then the troops from the city Munychia, a 

poured into the market-place of Hippodamus. Here they del'of 

formed in line, stretching along and filling the street Hippodamus 

which leads to the temple of Artemis and the Bendideum. the civil en - 

mi • 1 r r • gineer, who 

This line must have been at least fifty shields deep; and had planned 
in this formation they at once began to march up. As to dideum,' a en 
the men of Phyle, they too blocked the street at the op- ^"ine to a 
posite end, and faced the foe. They presented only a goddess. 
thin line not more than ten deep, though behind them The battle in 
were ranged a body of targeteers and light-armed, javelin eirseus - 
throwers, who were again supported by an artillery of 
stone-slingers — a tolerably numerous division drawn from 
the population of the port and district itself. While his 
antagonists were still advancing, Thrasybulus gave the 
order to ground their heavy shields; and having done so 
himself, whilst retaining the rest of his arms, he stood in 
the midst, and thus addressed them: 

"Men and fellow-citizens, I wish to inform some of you, Address of 
and to remind others that of the force you see advancing u i us . 
beneath us there, the right division are the very men we 
routed and pursued only five days ago; while on the ex- 
treme left there you see the Thirty. These are the men 
who have not spared to rob us of our city, though we did 
no wrong; who have hounded us from our homes; who 
have set the seal of proscription on our dearest friends. 
But to-day the wheel of fortune has revolved; that has 
come about which least of all they looked for, which most 
of all we prayed for. Here we stand with our good swords 
in our hands, face to face with our foes; and the gods 
themselves are with us, seeing that we are arrested in the 



250 The Supremacy of Sparta 

midst of our peaceful pursuits; at any moment, whilst we 
supped or slept or marketed, sentence of banishment was 
passed upon us. We had done no wrong, — nay, many of 
us were not even resident in the country. To-day there- 
fore, I repeat, the gods do visibly fight upon our side; the 
great gods, who raise a tempest even in the midst of calm, 
for our benefit, and when we lay our hand to fight, enable 
our little company to set up the trophy of victory over 
the multitude of our foes. On this day they have brought 
us hither to a place where the steep ascent must needs 
hinder our foes from reaching with lance or arrow further 
than our foremost ranks; but we with our volley of spears 
and arrows and stones cannot fail to reach them with 
terrible effect. Had we been forced to meet them van- 
guard to vanguard on an equal footing, who could have 
been surprised? But as it is, all I say to you is, let fly 
your missiles with a will in right brave style. No one can 
miss his mark when the road is full of them. To avoid our 
darts they must forever be ducking and skulking beneath 
their shields; but we will rain blows upon them in their 
blindness; we will leap upon them and lay them low. 
But, O sirs! let me call upon you so to bear yourselves 
that each shall be conscious to himself that the victory 
What victory was won by him and by him alone. Victory which, God 
willing, shall this day restore to us the land of our fathers, 
our homes, our freedom, and the rewards of civic life, our 
children, if children we have, our darlings, our wives! 
Thrice happy those among us who as conquerors shall 
look upon this gladdest of all days. Nor less fortunate 
the man who falls to-day. Not all the wealth in the 
world shall purchase him a monument so glorious. At the 
right instant I will strike the keynote of the paean; then 
with an invocation to the God of battle, and in return for 



Results of the Battle 



25 1 



the wanton insults they put upon us, let us with one 
accord wreak vengeance on yonder men." 

Having so spoken, he turned round, facing the foemen, The battle, 
and kept quiet; for the order passed by the soothsayer 
enjoined on them not to charge before one of their side 
was slain or wounded. "As soon as that happens," said 
the seer, "we will lead you onwards, and the victory shall 
be yours; but for myself, if I err not, death is waiting." 
And herein he spoke truly, for they had barely resumed 
their arms when he himself, as though he were driven by 
some fatal hand, leapt out in front of the ranks, and so 
springing into the midst of the foe, was slain, and lies now 
buried at the passage of the Cephissus. But the rest were 
victorious, and pursued the routed enemy down to the 
level ground. There fell in this engagement, from the 
number of the Thirty, Critias himself and Hippomachus, 
and with them Charmides, the son of Glaucon, one of the 
ten archons in Peiraeus, and of the rest about seventy men. 
The arms of the slain were taken; but as fellow-citizens, 
the conquerors forebore to despoil them of their coats. 



II. Retreat of the Ten Thousand Through the 
Snows of Armenia 

From this point they marched three desert stages — 
fifteen parasangs — to the river Euphrates, and crossed it 
in water up to the waist. The sources of the river were 
reported to be at no great distance. From this place they 
marched through deep snow over a flat country three 
stages — fifteen parasangs. The last of these marches was 
trying, with the north wind blowing in their teeth, drying 
up everything and benumbing the men. Here one of the 
seers suggested to them to do sacrifice to Boreas, and 
sacrifice was done. The effect was obvious to all in the 



A march in 
the storm. 

Xenophon, 
Anabasis, 
iv. 5. 

Ancient 
World, 253 
S.\ Greece, 
261 f. 

A parasang, 
Persian 
measure oi 
distance, 
was a little 



252 



The Supremacy of Sparta 



more than 
three miles; 
Boreas, god 
of the north 
wind. 

They camp 
in the snow. 



Hunger- 

t'aintness. 



Freezing to 
death. 



diminished fierceness of the blast. But there were six 
feet of snow, so that many of the baggage animals and 
slaves were lost, and about thirty of the men themselves. 

They spent the whole night in kindling fire; for there 
was fortunately no dearth of wood at the halting-place; 
only those who came late into camp had no wood. Ac- 
cordingly those who had arrived a good while and had 
kindled fires were not for allowing these late-comers near 
their fires, unless they would in return give a share of their 
corn or of any other victuals they might have. Here then 
a general exchange of goods was set up. Where the fire 
was kindled the snow melted, and great trenches formed 
themselves down to the bare earth, and here it was possi- 
ble to measure the depth of the snow. 

Leaving these quarters, they marched the whole of the 
next day over snow, and many of the men were afflicted 
with hunger-faintness. Xenophon, who was guarding the 
rear, came upon some men who had dropt down, and he 
did not know what ailed them; but some one who was 
experienced in such matters suggested to him that they 
were evidently faint; and if they got something to eat, 
they would revive. Then he went the round of the bag- 
gage train, and laying an embargo on any eatables he 
could see, doled it out with his own hands, or sent off 
other able-bodied agents to distribute it to the sufferers, 
who as soon as they had taken a mouthful got on their 
legs again and continued the march. . . . 

On the heels of the army hung perpetually bands of the 
enemy, snatching away disabled baggage animals and fight- 
ing with each other over the carcases. And in its track 
not seldom were left to their fate disabled soldiers, struck 
down with snow-blindness or with toes mortified by frost- 
bite. As to the eyes, it was some alleviation against the 



A Discouraging Situation 253 

snow to march with something black before them; for the 
feet, the only remedy was to keep in motion without 
stopping for an instant, and to loose the sandal at night. 
If they went to sleep with the sandals on, the thong 
worked into the feet and the sandals were frozen fast to 
them. This was partly due to the fact that, since their 
old sandals had failed, they wore untanned brogues made 
of newly flayed ox-hides. It was owing to some such dire 
necessity that a party of men fell out and were left behind, 
and seeing a black-looking patch of ground where the 
snow had evidently disappeared, they conjectured it 
must have been melted; and this was actually so, owing 
to a spring of some sort which was to be seen steaming up 
in a dell close by. To this they had turned aside and sat Some give 
down and were loth to go a step further. But Xenophon "pair, 
with his rearguard perceived them, and begged and im- 
plored them by all manner of means not to remain behind, 
telling them that the enemy were after them in large 
packs pursuing; and he ended by growing angry. They 
merely bade him put a knife to their throats; not one step 
further would they stir. Then it seemed best to frighten 
the pursuing enemy if possible, and to prevent their falling 
upon the invalids. It was already dusk, and the pursuers 
were advancing with much noise and hubbub, wrangling 
and disputing over their spoils. Then all of a sudden the 
rearguard, in the plenitude of health and strength, sprang 
up out of their lair and ran upon the enemy, whilst those 
weary wights bawled out as loud as their sick throats could 
sound, and dashed their spears against their shields ; and the 
enemy in terror hurled themselves through the snow into 
the dell, and not one of them ever uttered a sound again. 
Xenophon and his party, telling the sick folk that next 
day people would come for them, set off and before they 



2 54 



The Supremacy of Sparta 



Unable to 

march 

farther. 



They reach 
some vil- 
lages. 



Cheirisophus, 
one of the 
commanders, 
a Spartan. 



The villagers 
and their 
dwellings. 



had gone half a mile, they fell in with some soldiers who 
had laid down to rest on the snow with their cloaks 
wrapped round them; but never a guard was established, 
and they made them get up. Their explanation was that 
those in front would not move on. Passing by this group, 
he sent forward the strongest of his light infantry in ad- 
vance with orders to find out what the stoppage was. 
They reported that the whole army lay reposing in the 
same fashion. That being so, Xenophon's men had noth- 
ing for it but to bivouac in the open air also, without fire 
and supperless, merely posting what pickets they could 
under the circumstances. But as soon as it drew toward 
day, Xenophon despatched the youngest of his men to the 
sick folk behind, with orders to make them get up and 
to force them to proceed. Meanwhile Cheirisophus had 
sent some of his men quartered in the village to inquire 
how they fared in the rear; they were overjoyed to see 
them, and handed over the sick folk to them to carry into 
camp, while they themselves continued their march for- 
ward, and ere twenty stadia were past, reached the vil- 
lage in which Cheirisophus was quartered. As soon as 
the two divisions were met, the resolution was come to 
that it would be safe to billet the regiments throughout 
the villages; Cheirisophus remained where he was, while 
the rest drew lots for the villages in sight, and then, with 
their several detachments, marched off to their respective 
destinations. 

It was here that Polycrates, an Athenian and captain 
of a company, asked for leave of absence. He wished to 
be off on a quest of his own; and putting himself at the 
head of the active men of the division, he ran to the vil- 
lage which had been allotted to Xenophon. He surprised 
within it the villagers with their headman, and seventeen 



A Strange Village 255 

young horses which were being reared as a tribute for the 
king, and last of all the headman's own daughter, a young 
bride only eight days wed. Her husband had gone off to 
chase hares, and so he escaped being taken with the other 
villagers. The houses were underground structures with 
an aperture like the mouth of a well by which to enter; 
but they were broad and spacious below. The entrance 
for the beasts of burden was dug out, but the human 
occupants descended by a ladder. In these dwellings 
were to be found goats and sheep and cattle, and cocks 
and hens, with their various progeny. The flocks and herds 
were all reared under cover upon green food. There were 
stores within of wheat and barley and vegetables, and 
wine made from barley in great bowls ; the grains of barley 
malt lay floating in the beverage up to the lip of the vessel, 
and reeds lay in them, some longer some shorter without 
joints ; when you were thirsty you had to take one of these 
into your mouth and suck. The beverage without ad- 
mixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious flavor 
to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired. 

Xenophon made the headman of the village his guest 
at supper, and bade him keep a good heart; so far from 
robbing him of his children, they would fill his house full 
of good things in return for what they took before they 
went away; only he must set them an example, and dis- 
cover some blessing or other for the army, until they found 
themselves with another tribe. To this he readily as- 
sented, and with the utmost cordiality showed them the 
cellar where the wine was buried. For this night then, 
having taken up their several quarters as described, they 
slumbered in the midst of plenty, one and all, with the 
headman under watch and ward, and his children with 
him safe in sight. 



The climax 
of Sparta's 
power, 379 
B.C. 

Xenophon, 
Hellenica, 
v. 3- 



The guilty 
cannot es- 
cape punish- 
ment. 

lb. 4. 

A ncient 
World, 257; 
Greece, 268 f. 



256 The Supremacy of Sparta 

III. The Violence of Sparta 

On every side the affairs of Lacedemon had signally 
prospered: Thebes and the rest of the Boeotian states lay 
absolutely at her feet; Corinth had become her most 
faithful ally; Argos . . . was humbled to the dust; 
Athens was isolated; and lastly, those of her own allies 
who displayed a hostile feeling toward her had been 
punished; so that, to all outward appearance, the founda- 
tions of her empire were at length absolutely well and 
firmly laid. 

Abundant examples might be found alike in Hellenic 
and in foreign history, to prove that the Divine powers 
mark what is done amiss, winking neither at impiety nor 
at the commission of unhallowed acts; but at present I 
confine myself to the facts before me. The Lacedemonians, 
who had pledged themselves by oath to leave the states 
independent, had laid violent hands on the acropolis of 
Thebes, and were eventually punished by the victims of 
that iniquity single-handed, — the Lacedemonians, be it 
noted, who had never before been mastered by living man. 



STUDIES 

1. Where was Phyle and who was Thrasybulus {Ancient World, 
2 53)? Who were the Thirty, and why did they attack the patriots at 
Phyle? What may we learn of camp life from this passage? Where 
was Peiraeus? How was it connected with Athens? How did Thrasyb- 
ulus arrange his forces for battle? What was the advantage of their 
position? From his speech what may we learn as to the ruling party 
at Athens and the exiles respectively? What part did he think the 
gods had taken in the conflict thus far? What motives to bravery 
had his men? What part had the soothsayer in the proceedings? 
How were the military movements influenced by religion? Who was 
the author of this selection, and when did he live relatively to the 
events narrated? What is the reliability of the story? 



Studies 25 



2. Who were the Ten Thousand? How did they mitigate the north 
wind? What were their other difficulties? Who tells this story? 
What part had he in the retreat? What had he to do to keep the 
army moving? Describe the villages and their inhabitants. Why 
did they live underground? What was their favorite beverage? How 
were they treated by the Greeks? From this selection what do you 
infer as to the character of these Greek mercenaries? 

3. What was the condition of Greece and of Sparta in 379? What 
was Xenophon's idea of Providence in human affairs? From all these 
selections from Xenophon what may we infer as his religious beliefs? 



CHAPTER XXIII 



Family and 
education. 

Nepos, 
Epaminon- 
das, i f. 

Greece, 275- 
83; Ancient 
World, 260- 
07. 

On Pythag- 
oras; An- 
cient World, 
155- 



THEBES ATTEMPTS TO GAIN THE SUPREMACY 

I. Epaminondas 

Epaminondas was the son of Polumnis, and was born 
at Thebes. . . . He was of an honorable family, though 
left poor by his ancestors; but he was so well-educated 
that no Theban was more so; for he was taught to play 
upon the harp, and to sing to the sound of its strings, by 
Dionysius, who was held in no less honor among musicians 
than Damon or Lamprus, whose names are well known; 
to play on the flutes by Olympiodorus; and to dance by 
Calliphron. For his instructor in philosophy he had Lysis 
of Tarentum, a Pythagorean, to whom he was so devoted 
that, young as he was, he preferred the society of a grave 
and austere old man before that of all those of his own 
age; nor did he part with him until he so far excelled his 
fellow students in learning, that it might easily be per- 
ceived he would in like manner excel them all in other 
pursuits. These acquirements according to our habits are 
trifling, and rather to be despised; but in Greece, at least 
in former times, they were a great subject for praise. 
After he grew up, and began to apply himself to gym- 
nastic exercises, he studied not so much to increase his 
strength as the agility of his body; for he thought that 
strength suited the purpose of wrestlers, but that agility 
conduced to excellence in war. He used to exercise him- 
self very much, therefore, in running and wrestling, as 
358 






Character of Epaminondas 259 

long as he could grapple with his adversary and contend 
standing. But he spent most of his labor on martial 
exercises. 

To the strength of body thus acquired, were added many His moral 
good qualities of the mind; for he was modest, prudent, 
grave, wisely availing himself of opportunities, skilled in ep ' p ' 3 ' 
war, brave in action, and possessed of remarkable courage. 
He was so great a lover of truth that he would not tell a 
falsehood even in jest; he was also master of his passions, 
gentle in disposition, and patient to a wonderful degree, 
submitting to wrong not only from the people, but from 
his own friends; he was a remarkable keeper of secrets, a 
quality which is sometimes not less serviceable than elo- 
quence; and he was an attentive listener to others, be- 
cause he thought that by this means knowledge was most 
easily acquired. Whenever he came into a company, 
therefore, in which a discussion was going on concerning 
government, or a conversation was being held on any 
point in philosophy, he never went away till the discourse 
was brought to its conclusion. He bore poverty so easily 
that he received nothing from the state but glory. He 
did not avail himself of the means of his friends to main- 
tain himself; but he often used his credit to relieve others, 
to such a degree that it might be thought all things were 
in common between him and his friends; .... 

He was of a patient disposition, and ready to endure His patience 
wrongs from his countrymen, because he thought it a mility. 
species of impiety to show resentment towards his coun- Ib 7 
try. There are the following proofs. When the Thebans 
from some feeling of displeasure towards him refused to 
place him at the head of the army, a leader was chosen 
who was ignorant of war, by whose mismanagement a 
great multitude of soldiers was brought to such a condi- 



260 Thebes Attempts to Gain Supremacy 



He violates 
the law to 
win a vic- 
tory. 



He defends 
his conduct. 

Nep. Ep. 8. 



tion that all were alarmed for their safety. They were con- 
fined within a narrow space and blocked up by the enemy, 
whereupon the energy of Epaminondas began to be in re- 
quest, for he was there as a private among the soldiers. 
When they desired aid from him, he showed no recollec- 
tion of the affront that had been put upon him, but 
brought the army safely home after releasing it from the 
blockade. Nor did he act in this manner once only but 
often. 

The most remarkable instance was when he had led an 
army into the Peloponnesus against the Lacedemonians, 
and had two joined in command with him, of whom one 
was Pelopidas, a man of valor and activity. On this oc- 
casion, when through the accusations of their enemies 
they had all fallen under the displeasure of their country- 
men, and their commission was in consequence taken from 
them and other commanders came to take their places, 
Epaminondas did not obey the order of the people, and 
persuaded his colleagues to follow his example, continuing 
to prosecute the war which he had undertaken; for he saw 
that unless he did so, the whole army would be lost 
through the incautiousness and ignorance of its leaders. 
But there was a law at Thebes, which punished anyone 
with death who retained his command longer than he was 
legally appointed. Epaminondas, however, as he saw that 
this law had been made for the purpose of preserving the 
state, was unwilling to make it contribute to its ruin, and 
continued to exercise his command four months longer 
than the people had prescribed. 

When they returned home, his colleagues were im- 
peached for this offence, and he gave them leave to lay all 
the blame upon him, and to maintain that it was through 
his means that they did not obey the law. As they were 



On Trial for Life 



261 



freed from danger by this defence, nobody thought Epa- 
minondas would make any reply, because it was supposed 
he would have nothing to say. But he stood forth on the 
trial, denied nothing of what his adversaries laid to his 
charge, and admitted the truth of all that his colleagues 
had stated; nor did he refuse to submit to the penalty of 
the law; but he requested of his countrymen one favor, 
namely, that they would write the following in their ju- 
dicial record of the sentence passed upon him: " Epaminon- 
das was punished by the Thebans with death, because he 
obliged them to overthrow the Lacedemonians at Leuctra, 
whom, before he was general, none of the Boeotians durst 
look upon in the field, and because he not only by one 
battle rescued Thebes from destruction, but also secured 
liberty for all Greece, and brought the power of both 
people to such a condition that the Thebans attacked 
Sparta, and the Lacedemonians were content if they could 
save their lives; nor did he cease to prosecute the war till 
after settling Messene, he shut up Sparta with a close 
siege." When he had said this, there burst forth a laugh 
from all present, with much merriment, and no one of the 
judges ventured to pass sentence upon him. Thus he 
came off from this trial for life with the greatest glory. 



Ancient 
World, 260 f. 



II. The Battle of Mantinea 

Far more wonderful to my mind was the pitch of per- High spirit 
fection to which he had brought his army. There was no soldiers of 
labor which his troops would shrink from, either by night Epanunon- 
or by day; there was no danger they would flinch from; 
and with the scantiest provisions, their discipline never Xenophon, 

, ., , A , Hellenica, 

failed them. vii. 5. 

And so, when he gave his last orders to them to prepare 
for impending battle, they obeyed with alacrity. He gave 



262 Thebes Attempts to Gain Supremacy 



The club of 
Heracles was 
the Theban 
coat of arms. 



He deceives 
the enemy. 



His tactics. 



the word; the cavalry fell to whitening their helmets, the 
heavy infantry of the Arcadians began inscribing clubs as 
the crest on their shields, as though they were Thebans, 
and all were engaged in sharpening their lances and swords 
and polishing their heavy shields. When the preparations 
were complete and he had led them out, his next move- 
ment is worthy of attention. First, as was natural, he 
paid heed to their formation, and in so doing seemed to 
give clear evidence that he intended battle; but no sooner 
was the army drawn up in the formation which he pre- 
ferred than he advanced, not by the shortest route to meet 
the enemy, but toward the westward-lying mountains 
which face Tegea, and by this movement created in the 
enemy an expectation that he would not do battle on that 
day. In keeping with this expectation, as soon as he 
arrived at the mountain-region, he extended his phalanx 
in long line and piled arms under the high cliffs; and to all 
appearance he was there encamping. The effect of this 
manoeuvre on the enemy in general was to relax the pre- 
pared bent of their souls for battle, and to weaken their 
tactical arrangements. Presently, however, wheeling his 
regiments, which were marching in column, to the front, 
with the effect of strengthening the beak-like attack 
which he proposed to lead himself, at the same instant he 
gave the order, "Shoulder arms, forward," and led the 
way, the troops following. 

When the enemy saw them so unexpectedly approach- 
ing, not one of them was able to maintain tranquillity. 
Some began running to their divisions, some fell into line, 
some might be seen bitting and bridling their horses, some 
donning their cuirasses, and one and all were like men 
about to receive rather than to inflict a blow. Meanwhile 
he with steady impetus pushed forward his armament, 



Victory and Death 263 

like a ship-of-war prow forward. Wherever he brought 
his solid wedge to bear, he meant to cleave through the 
opposing mass and crumble his adversary's host to pieces. 
With this design he prepared to throw the brunt of the 
fighting on the strongest half of his army, while he kept 
the weaker portion of it in the background, knowing cer- 
tainly that if worsted it would only cause discouragement 
to his own division and add force to the foe. The cavalry 
on the side of his opponents were disposed like an ordinary 
phalanx of heavy infantry, regular in depth and unsup- 
ported by foot-soldiers interspersed among the horses. 
Epaminondas again differed in strengthening the attack- 
ing point of his cavalry, besides which he interspersed 
footmen between their lines in the belief that, when he had 
once cut through the cavalry, he would have wrested 
victory from the antagonist along his whole line; so hard 
is it to find troops who will care to keep their ground when 
once they see any of their own side flying. Lastly, to 
prevent any attempt on the part of the Athenians, who 
were on the enemy's left wing, to bring up their reliefs in 
support of the portion next them, he posted bodies of 
cavalry and heavy infantry on certain hillocks in front of 
them, intending to create in their minds an apprehension 
that, in case they offered such assistance, they would be 
attacked on their own rear by these detachments. Such 
was the plan of encounter which he formed and executed; 
nor was he cheated in his hopes. He had so much the At this point 

• r ill 1 1 1 i r he was mor- 

mastery at his point of attack that he caused the whole of tally 
the enemy's troops to take to flight. wounded. 

But after he himself had fallen, the rest of the Thebans Effect of his 



were not able any longer to turn their victory rightly to 
account. Though the main battle line of their opponents 
had given way, not a single man afterward did the victori- 



death. 



264 Thebes Attempts to Gain Supremacy 



Results of 
the battle. 



Ancient 
World, 266 f. 



ous hoplites slay, not an inch forward did they advance 
from the ground on which the collision took place. Al- 
though the cavalry had fled before them, there was no 
pursuit; not a man, horseman or hoplite, did the conquer- 
ing cavalry cut down; but like men who have suffered a 
defeat, as if panic-stricken they slipped back through the 
ranks of the fleeing foemen. Only the footmen fighting 
amongst the cavalry and the light infantry, who had 
together shared the victory of the cavalry, found their 
way round to the left wing as masters of the field, but it 
cost them dear; here they encountered the Athenians, and 
most of them were cut down. 

The effective result of these achievements was the very 
opposite of that which the world at large anticipated. 
Here, where well-nigh the whole of Hellas was met to- 
gether in one field, and the combatants stood rank against 
rank confronted, there was no one who doubted that, in 
the event of battle, the conquerors this day would rule; 
and that those who lost would be their subjects. But 
God so ordered it that both belligerents alike set up 
trophies as claiming victory, and neither interfered with 
the other in the act. Both parties alike gave back their 
enemy's dead under a truce, and in right of victory; both 
alike, in symbol of defeat, under a truce took back their 
dead. And though both claimed to have won the day, 
neither could show that thereby he had gained any ac- 
cession of territory, or state, or empire, or was better 
situated than before the battle. Uncertainty and confu- 
sion, indeed, had gained ground, being tenfold greater 
throughout the length and breath of Hellas after the battle 
than before. 



Review 26' 



STUDIES 

i. Describe the education of Epaminondas in music and philos- 
ophy. When Nepos speaks of "our habits, " to whom does he refer? 
Who was he, and when did he live? How did Epaminondas prepare 
himself for military life? Describe his character. How did he justify 
his violation of law? Was he right or wrong? 

2. How may we account for the enthusiasm of his troops on the 
eve of battle? What preparations did they make for battle? How 
did he deceive the enemy? Describe his tactics in the battle. In 
what respects were his arrangements superior to those of the enemy? 
What was the effect of his death? What were the effects of this 
battle on Hellas? With what feeling for the future does Xenophon 
close this narrative? 



CHAPTER XXIV 

RISE OF MACEDON 

I. Philip threatens Greece 

The Greeks That Philip from a mean and humble origin has grown 
sibie for mighty, that the Greeks are jealous and quarrelling among 
cess! P ' S SUC " themselves, that it was far more wonderful for him to rise 
from that insignificance than it would be now, after so 
many acquisitions, to conquer what is left; these and 
similar matters, which I might dwell upon, I pass over. 
Demosthenes, But I observe that all people, beginning with you, have 
uppic. conceded to him a right, which in former times has been 

Greece, 297 ff.; the subject of contest in every Grecian war. And what 
World, 271 f. is this? The right of doing as he pleases, openly fleecing 
and pillaging the Greeks, one after another, attacking and 
enslaving their cities. You were at the head of the Greeks 
for seventy-three years, the Lacedaemonians for twenty- 
nine; and the Thebans had some power in these latter 
times after the battle of Leuctra. Yet neither you, my 
countrymen, nor Thebans nor Lacedaemonians, were ever 
licensed by the Greeks to act as you pleased; far other- 
wise. When you or rather the Athenians of that time 
appeared to be dealing harshly with certain people, all 
the rest even such as had no complaint against Athens, 
thought proper to side with the injured parties in a war 
against her. So, when the Lacedaemonians became mas- 
ters and succeeded to your empire, on their attempting to 
encroach and make oppressive innovations, a general war 

266 



Philip's Aggressions 267 

was declared against them, even by such as had no cause 

of complaint. . . . 

Yet all the faults committed by the Spartans in those Phili P h *s 
1 • ii • 1 i wronged 

thirty years, and by our ancestors in the seventy, are less, Greece more 

men of Athens, than the wrongs, which in the thirteen in- alfhe/other 
complete years that Philip has been uppermost, he has leaders and 
inflicted on the Greeks; nay they are scarcely a fraction of gether. 
these, as may easily be shown in a few words. Olynthus 
and Methone and Apollonia, and thirty-two cities on the 
borders of Thrace, I pass over; all which he has so cruelly 
destroyed, that a visitor could hardly tell if they were ever 
inhabited; and of the Phocians, so considerable a people 
exterminated, I say nothing. But what is the condition of 
Thessaly? Has he not taken away her constitutions, and 
her cities, and established tetrarchies, to parcel her out, 
not only by cities, but also by provinces, for subjection? 
Are not the Eubcean states governed now by despots, and 
that, too, in an island near to Thebes and Athens? Does he 
not expressly write in his epistles, "I am at peace with those 
who are willing to obey me"? Nor does he write so and 
not act accordingly. He has gone to the Hellespont; he 
marched formerly against Ambracia; Elis, such an im- 
portant city in Peloponnesus, he possesses; he plotted 
lately to get Megara; neither Hellenic nor Barbaric land 
contains the man's ambition. 

And we the Greek community, seeing and hearing this, The Greeks 
instead of sending embassies to one another about it and combine 
expressing indignation, are in such a miserable state, so a « ainst him - 
intrenched in our separate towns, that to this day we can 
attempt nothing that interest or necessity requires; we 
cannot combine, or form any association for succor and 
alliance; we look unconcernedly on the man's growing 
power, each resolving, methinks, to enjoy the interval that 



268 Rise of Macedon 

another is destroyed in, not caring or striving for the 
salvation of Greece; for none can be ignorant that Philip, 
like some course or attack of fever or other disease, is com- 
ing even on those that yet seem very far removed. And 
you must be sensible, that whatever wrongs the Greeks 
sustained from Lacedaemonians or from us, were at least in- 
flicted by genuine people of Greece; and it might be felt in 
the same manner as if a lawful son, born to a large fortune, 
committed some fault or error in the management of it; on 
that ground one would consider him open to censure and 
reproach, yet it could not be said that he was an alien, 
and not heir to the property which he so dealt with. But 
if a slave or spurious child wasted and spoiled what he 
had no interest in — Heavens ! how much more heinous and 
hateful would all have pronounced it! And yet in regard 
to Philip and his conduct they feel not this, although he is 
not only no Greek and noway akin to Greeks, but not even 
a barbarian of a place honorable to mention; in fact a vile 
fellow of Macedon, from which a respectable slave could 
not formerly be purchased. . . . 
The heritage First let us prepare for our own defence; provide our- 
to lead in selves, I mean, with ships, money, and troops — for surely, 
though all other people consented to be slaves, we at least 
ought to struggle for freedom. When we have completed 
our own preparations and made them apparent to the 
Greeks, then let us invite the rest, and send our ambassa- 
dors everywhere with the intelligence, to Peloponnesus, 
to Rhodes, to Chios, to the king I say; for it concerns 
his interests, not to let Philip make universal conquest. 
Thus if you prevail, you will have partners of your 
dangers and expenses, in case of necessity, or at all 
events you will delay the operations. For since the war is 
against an individual, not against the collected power of a 



freedom's 
cause. 



The Advice of Demosthenes 269 

state, even this may be useful; as were the embassies last 
year to Peloponnesus, and the remonstrances with which 
I and Polyeuctus, that excellent man, and Hegesippus 
and Clitomachus and Lycurgus and the other envoys went 
around, and arrested Philip's progress; so that he neither 
attacked Ambracia nor started for Peloponnesus. I say 
not however that you should invite the rest without 
adopting measures to protect yourselves; it would be folly, 
while you sacrifice your own interest, to profess a regard 
for that of strangers, or to alarm others about the future, 
whilst for the present you are unconcerned. I advise not 
this: I bid you send supplies to the troops in Chersonesus, 
and do what else they require; prepare yourselves and 
make every effort first, then summon, gather, instruct the 
rest of the Greeks. 

That is'the duty of a state possessing a dignity such No other 
as yours. If you imagine that Chalcidians or Megarians stir a finger 
will save Greece, while you run away from the contest, {^J S 4J° U 
you imagine wrong. Well for any of those people, if lead -' 
they are safe themselves. This work belongs to you: 
this privilege your ancestors bequeathed to you, the 
prize of many perilous exertions. But if every one 
will sit seeking his pleasure, and studying to be idle 
himself, never will he find others to do his work, and 
more than this, I fear we shall be under the necessity of 
doing at one time all that we like not. Were proxies to 
be had, our inactivity would have found them long ago; 
but they are not. 

Such are the measures which I advise, which I propose : There is still 
adopt them, and even yet, I believe, our prosperity may cess, 
be reestablished. If any man has better advice to offer, 
let him communicate it openly. Whatever you deter- 
mine, I pray to all the gods for a happy result. 



270 



Rise of Macedon 



Hellenic 

league 

formed 

against 

Philip. 

Justin ix. 3. 



Ancient 
World, 274. 



Battle of 
Chaeronea, 
338 B.C. 



II. He Gains Control of Greece 

But as soon as he recovered from his wound, he made 
war upon the Athenians, of which he had long dissembled 
his intention. The Thebans espoused their cause, fear- 
ing that if the Athenians were conquered, the war, like a 
fire in the neighborhood, would spread to them. An 
alliance being made accordingly between the two cities, 
which were just before at violent enmity with each other, 
they wearied Greece with embassies, stating that they 
thought the common enemy ought to be repelled by their 
common strength, for Philip would not rest, if his first 
attempts succeeded, until he had subjugated all Greece. 
Some of the cities were moved by these arguments, and 
joined themselves to the Athenians; but the dread of a 
war induced some to go over to Philip. A battle being 
brought on, though the Athenians were far superior in 
number of soldiers, they were conquered by the valor of 
the Macedonians, which was invigorated by constant 
service in the field. In defeat, however, they were not 
unmindful of their ancient valor; for falling with wounds 
in front, they all with their dead bodies covered the places 
which they had been charged by their leaders to defend. 
This day put an end to the glorious sovereignty and 
ancient liberty of all Greece. 



Moderate 
use of the 
victory. 

Justin ix. 4. 



III. Organization of His Supremacy 

Philip's joy for this victory was artfully concealed. He 
abstained from offering the usual sacrifices on that day; 
he did not smile at table, or mingle any diversions with the 
entertainment; he had no chaplets or perfumes; and as far 
as was in his power, he so managed his conquest that none 
might think of him as a conqueror. He desired that he 



Philip's Treatment of the Conquered 271 

should not be called king, but general of Greece; and con- 
ducted himself with such prudence between his own secret 
joy on the one hand and the grief of the enemy on the 
other, that he neither appeared to his own subjects to re- 
joice, nor to the vanquished to insult them. To the 
Athenians, whom he had found to be his bitterest enemies, 
he sent back their prisoners without ransom, and gave up 
the bodies of the slain for burial, bidding them convey the 
relics of their dead to the sepulchres of their ancestors. 
He also sent Alexander, his son, with his friend Antipater 
to Athens, to establish peace and friendship with them. 

The Thebans, however, he compelled to purchase their Harsh treat- 
prisoners as well as the liberty of burying their dead. Thebans. 
Some of the chief men of the city, too, he put to death; 
others he banished, seizing upon the property of them all. 
Afterward he reinstated in their country those that had 
been unjustly banished, of whom he made three hundred 
judges and governors of the city, before whom when the 
most eminent citizens were arraigned on this very charge, 
that of having banished them unjustly, they had such 
spirit that they all acknowledged their participation in the 
fact, and proved that it was better with the state when 
they were condemned than when they were restored. A 
wonderful instance of courage! They passed sentence, as 
far as they could, on those who had the disposal of them 
for life or death, and set at naught the pardon which their 
enemies could give them; and as they could not avenge 
themselves by deeds, they manifested their boldness by 
spirit of words. 

War being at an end in Greece, Philip directed deputies The council 
from all the states to be summoned to Corinth, to settle 
the condition of affairs. Here he fixed terms of peace for Justin ix. 5. 
the whole of Greece, according to the merits of each city; 



272 



Rise of Macedon 



Ancient 
World, 275 f. 



Philip's 
character. 



Justin ix. 8. 



and chose from them all a council, to form a senate as it 
were for the country. But the Lacedaemonians, standing 
alone, showed contempt alike for the terms and the king. 
They regarded the state of things, which had not been 
agreed upon by the cities themselves, but had been forced 
upon them by a conqueror, as a state, not of peace, but of 
slavery. The number of troops to be furnished by each 
city was then determined, whether the king in case of 
being attacked was to be supported by their united force, 
or whether war was to be made on any other power under 
him as their general. In all these preparations for war it 
was not to be doubted that the kingdom of Persia was the 
object in view. The sum of the force was two hundred 
thousand infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry. Ex- 
clusive of this number there were also the army of Mace- 
donia and the barbarians of the adjacent conquered na- 
tions. . . . 

As a king he was more inclined to display in war than 
in entertainments; and his greatest riches were means for 
military operations. He was better at getting wealth than 
keeping it, and in consequence was always poor amidst his 
daily spoliations. Clemency and perfidy were equally 
valued by him; and no road to victory was, in his opinion, 
dishonorable. He was equally pleasing and treacherous 
in his address, promising more than he could perform. 
He was well qualified either for serious conversation or for 
jesting. He maintained friendship more with a view to 
interest than good faith. It was a common practice with 
him to pretend kindness where he hated, and to counter- 
feit dislike where he loved; to sow dissensions among 
friends, and try to gain favor from both sides. With such a 
disposition, his eloquence was very great, his language full 
of point and studied effect; so that neither did his facility 



Philip and Alexander Contrasted 273 

fall short of his art, nor his invention of his facility, nor 
his art of his invention. 

To Philip succeeded his son Alexander, a prince greater Contrasted 

i • , i -11,. • , 1 • • t^ 1 r With AleX " 

than his father in both his virtues and his vices. Each of ander. 
the two had a different mode of conquering; the one prose- 
cuted his wars with open force, the other with subtlety; Justin, 1. c. 
the one delighted in deceiving his enemies, the other in 
boldly repulsing them. The one was more prudent in 
council, the other more noble in feeling. The father 
would dissemble his resentment, and often subdue it; 
when the son was provoked, there was neither delay nor 
bounds to his vengeance. They were both too fond of 
wine, but the ill effects of their intoxication were totally 
different; the father would rush from a banquet to face 
the enemy, cope with him, and rashly expose himself to 
dangers; the son vented his rage not upon his enemies but 
on his friends. A battle often sent Philip away wounded; 
Alexander often left a banquet stained with the blood of 
his companions. The one wished to reign with his friends, 
the other to reign over them. The one preferred to be 
loved, the other to be feared. To literature both gave 
equal attention. The father had more cunning, the son 
more honor. Philip was more staid in his words, Alexan- 
der in his actions. The son felt readier and nobler im- 
pulses to spare the conquered ; the father showed no mercy 
even to his allies. The father was more inclined to fru- 
gality, the son to luxury. By the same course by which the 
father laid the foundations of the empire of the world, the 
son consummated the glory of conquering the whole world. 

IV. Summary of his Achievements 

He (Philip) found you (the Macedonians) vagabonds and KJJjft to 
destitute of means, most of you clad in skins, feeding a Macedon. 



274 Rise of Macedon 

Alleged few sheep up the mountain sides, for the protection of 

SDCCctl of 

Alexander to which you had to fight with small success against the II- 
tented C Mace- lyrians, Triballians, and the border Thracians. Instead of 
donian sol- skins he gave you cloaks to wear, and from the mountains 
Arrian, Anab- he led you down into the plains, and made you capable of 
Vxander vii. 9. fighting the neighboring barbarians, so that you were no 
longer compelled to preserve yourselves by trusting rather 
to the inaccessible strongholds than to your own valor. 
He made you colonists of cities, which he provided with 
useful laws and customs; and from being slaves and sub- 
jects, he made you rulers over those very barbarians by 
whom you yourselves, as well as your property, were 
previously liable to be carried off or ravaged. He added, 
too, the greater part of Thrace to Macedon, and by seizing 
the most conveniently situated places on the sea-coast, he 
spread abundance over the land by commerce, and made 
the working of the mines a secure employment. He made 
you rulers over the Thessalians, of whom you had formerly 
been in mortal fear; and by humbling the nation of the 
Phocians he rendered the avenue into Greece broad and 
easy for you, instead of being narrow and difficult. The 
Athenians and Thebans, who were always lying in wait 
to attack the Macedonians, he humbled to such a degree, 
with my personal aid in the campaign, that instead of 
paying tribute to Athens and being in vassalage to Thebes, 
those states now obtain security for themselves by our 
assistance. He penetrated into Peloponnese; and after reg- 
ulating its affairs, he was publicly declared commander 
in chief of all the rest of Greece in the expedition against 
the Persians, adding this glory not more to himself than to 
the commonwealth of the Macedonians. 



Review 275 



STUDIES 

1. How, according to Demosthenes, had Philip injured the Greeks? 
How had he grown great? What had the Greeks been doing mean- 
while? Was Philip a Greek or a foreigner? What policy does the 
orator advise? Why does he think Athens should take the lead? 

2. How did Philip finally gain control of Greece? 

3. What use did he make of his victory? How did he treat the 
Athenians and the Thebans respectively? Why did he make this 
difference? Describe in detail his organization of Greece. What was 
the ultimate object? Describe Philip's character. What contrast is 
drawn between him and his son? Which seems the better? Who 
wrote this extract, from what sources did he probably draw, and 
what seems to be his reliability? 

4. What was the condition of the Macedonians on the accession of 
Philip? What benefits, according to Alexander, did Philip confer on 
them? 



CHAPTER XXV 

ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE 



The reasons 
for his suc- 
cess. 

Plutarch, 

Alexander, 
20 f. 



Ancient 
World, 280; 
Greece, 312 f. 



The spoil 
and the 
captives. 



I. The Battle of Issus 

Fortune, no doubt, greatly favored Alexander, but yet 
he owed much of his success to his excellent generalship; 
for although enormously outnumbered by the enemy, he 
not only avoided being surrounded by them, but was able 
to outflank their left with his own right wing, and by this 
manoeuvre completely defeated the Persians. He himself 
fought among the foremost, and according to Chares was 
wounded in the thigh by Darius himself. In the account 
of the battle which he despatched to Antipater, Alexander 
does not mention the name of the man who wounded him, 
but states that he received a stab in the thigh with a 
dagger, and that the wound was not dangerous. 

He won a most decisive victory, and slew more than a 
hundred thousand of the enemy, but could not come up 
with Darius himself, as he gained a start of nearly a mile. 
He captured his chariot, however, and his bow and arrows, 
and on his return found the Macedonians revelling in the 
rich plunder which they had won, although the Persians 
had been in light marching order, and had left most of 
their heavy baggage at Damascus. The royal pavilion of 
Darius himself, full of beautiful slaves and rich furniture 
of every description, had been left unplundered, and was 
reserved for Alexander himself, who as soon as he had 
taken off his armor, proceeded to the bath, saying "Let 
me wash off the sweat of the battle in the bath of Darius." 

276 



Royal Captives 277 

"Nay," answered one of his companions, "in that of 
Alexander; for the goods of the vanquished become the 
property of the victor." When he entered the bath and 
saw that all the vessels for water, the bath itself, and the 
boxes of unguents were of pure gold, and smelt the de- 
licious scent of the rich perfumes w T ith which the whole 
pavilion was filled; and when he passed from the bath 
into a magnificent salon where a splendid banquet was 
prepared, he looked at his friends and said "This, then, it 
is to be a king indeed." 

While he was dining it was told him that the mother and The family 
wife of Darius and his two daughters, who were among 
the captives, had seen the chariot and bow of Darius, and 
were mourning for him, imagining him to be dead. Alex- 
ander when he heard this, paused for a long time, being 
more affected by the grief of these ladies, than by the 
victory he had won. He sent Leonnatus to inform them, 
that they need never mourn for Darius nor fear Alexan- 
der; for he was fighting for the empire of Asia, not as a per- 
sonal enemy of Darius, and would take care that they were 
treated with the same honor and respect as before. This 
generous message to the captive princesses was followed 
by acts of still greater kindness ; for he permitted them to 
bury whomsoever of the slain persons they wished, and 
to use all their own apparel and furniture, which had been 
seized by the soldiers as plunder. He also allowed them 
to retain the regal title and state, and even increased their 
revenues. 

II. The Sack of Persepolis 

The Macedonians therefore, forcing their way into the -The spoil, 
city, put all the men to the sword, and rifled and carried Diodonis 
away every man's goods and estate, amongst which was 



278 Alexander's Empire 

abundance of rich and costly furniture and ornaments of 
all sorts. In this place were looted here and there vast 
quantities of silver, and no less of gold, great numbers of 
rich garments, some of finest purple, others embroidered 
with gold, all which became the prizes of the victors: and 
thus the great seat-royal of the Persians, once famous all 
the world over, was now exposed to scorn and contempt, 
and rifled from top to bottom. For though the Mace- 
donians spent days and days in the looting, yet their 
covetousness was insatiable, still thirsting after more. 
And they were so eager in plundering that they fought one 
with another with drawn swords, and many who were 
conceived to have got a greater share than the rest, were 
killed in the quarrel. Some things that were of extraor- 
dinary value they divided with their swords, and each 
took a share; others in rage cut off the hands of such as 
laid hold of a thing that was in dispute. ... So that in 
proportion as Persepolis excelled all the other cities in 
glory and worldly felicity, such was the measure of her 
misery and calamity. 
The Then Alexander seized upon all the treasures in the 

citadel, a vast quantity of gold and silver of the public 
revenues that had been there collected and laid up from 
the time of Cyrus, the first king of Persia, to that day. 
For there was found a hundred and twenty thousand 
talents, reckoning the gold after the rate of the silver. 

Part of this treasure he took for the use of the war, and 
ordered another part of it to be treasured up at Susa. To 
this end he ordered that a multitude of mules both for 
draught and carriage, and three thousand camels with 
pack-saddles, should be brought out of Babylon, Mesopo- 
tamia, and Susa; and with these he conveyed all the treas- 
ure to the several places he had appointed. For because 



treasures 
Diod. xvii.71. 



Destruction of Persepolis 279 

he extremely hated the inhabitants, he was resolved not 
to trust them with any thing, but utterly to ruin and 
destroy Persepolis. As to the stately structure of the The palace, 
palace we conceive it will not be out of place if we say 
something. This grand fabric was surrounded with a 
treble wall; the first was sixteen cubits high, adorned with 
pinnacles. The second was like to the first, but as high 
again as the other. The third was drawn like a quadrant, 
sixty cubits high, all of hard stone and of a nature which 
warranted imperishable duration. On the four sides are 
brazen gates, near to which are gallowses of bronze twenty 
cubits high. These were raised to terrify the beholders, 
and the other for the better strengthening and fortifying 
of the place. On the east side of the citadel, about four 
hundred feet distant, stood a mount called the Royal 
mount, for here are all the sepulchres of the kings, many 
apartments and little cells cut into the midst of the rock; 
into these cells there is made no direct passage, but the 
coffins with the dead bodies are by instruments hoisted 
up, and so let down into these vaults. In this citadel were 
many stately lodgings, of excellent workmanship, both 
for the king and his commanders, and treasury cham- 
bers most commodiously contrived for the laying up of 
money. 

Here Alexander made a sumptuous feast for the enter- Alexander's 
tainment of his friends in commemoration of his victory, 
and offered magnificent sacrifices to the gods. And indeed Diod. xvii. 
at one time when the "companions" of the king were 7 
feasting and carousing, madness seized upon the souls of 
the men flushed with wine. When also one of the women 
present — Thais of Athens — said, "Alexander will per- 
form the most glorious act of his life, if while he is feasting 
with us he will burn the palace;" and so the glory and 



28o 



Alexander's Empire 



renown of Persia might be said to have come to naught in 
a moment by the hands of women. This spread abroad, 
and came to the ears of the men who were young and made 
little use of reason when drink was in their heads. Pres- 

The burning ently one cries out, "Come on, bring us firebrands," and 
of the palace. . . , , ,. , . ,'T ' • 

so incited the rest to fire the citadel, to revenge the im- 
piety the Persians had committed in destroying the 
temples of the Grecians. Thereupon others with joy set 
up a shout, and said, "So brave an exploit belongs only to 
Alexander to perform!" 

Stirred by these words, the king embraced the motion; 
whereupon as many as were present left their cups and 
leaped upon the table, and said, "We will now celebrate 
a victorious festival to Bacchus." Then multitudes of 
firebrands were presently got together, and all the women 
that played on musical instruments at the feast were 
called for, and then the king with songs, pipes and flutes 
bravely led the procession of revelry conducted by Thais, 
who next after the king threw the firebrand into the 
palace. This precedent was presently followed by the rest, 
so that in a very short time, the whole fabric, by the vio- 
lence of the fire, was consumed to ashes. 



His good 
qualities. 

Arrian, An- 
abasis of 
Alexander, 
vii. 28. 

Died 323 
B.C. 



III. Character of Alexander 

Alexander died in the hundred and fourteenth Olym- 
piad, in the archonship of Hegesias of Athens. According 
to the statement of Aristobulus he lived thirty-two years 
and had reached the eighth month of his thirty-third year. 
He had reigned twelve years and these eight months. He 
was very handsome in person, and unusually fond of exer- 
tion, very active in mind, heroic in courage, tenacious of 
honor, exceedingly fond of incurring danger, and strictly 



Character of Alexander 281 

observant of his duty to the deity. Over bodily pleasures 
he maintained perfect self-control; in mental pleasures he 
was insatiable in none but praise. He was exceedingly 
clever in discovering what was to be done, while others 
were still uncertain. From the observation of facts he 
could with rare success conjecture what was likely to 
happen. His fame was enhanced by his ability to rouse 
courage in his soldiers, to fill them with hopes of success, 
and to dispel their fear in the midst of danger by his own 
freedom from alarm. Therefore what he had to do while 
still uncertain of the result he performed with the utmost 
boldness. He was clever, too, in getting the start of his 
enemies, and in snatching from them their advantage by 
secretly forestalling them, before anyone even feared for 
the result. Remarkably steadfast in keeping the agree- 
ments and settlements he had made, he was equally se- 
cure from being entrapped by deceivers. Lastly he spent 
little on his own pleasures but was very bountiful in ex- 
pense for the benefit of others. 

Eratosthenes blames the system of those who would Breadth of 
divide all mankind into Greeks and Barbarians, and like- sympa y " 
wise those who recommended Alexander to treat the Greeks strabo i. 4. 9. 
as friends, but the Barbarians as enemies. He suggests, as 
a better course, to distinguish them according to their 
virtues and their vices, " since amongst the Greeks there 
are many worthless characters, and many highly civilized 
are to be found amongst the Barbarians; witness the 
Indians and Ariani, or still better the Romans and Cartha- 
ginians, whose political system is so beautifully perfect. 
Alexander, considering this, disregarded the advice which 
had been offered him, and patronized without distinction 
any man he considered to be deserving. 



282 Alexander's Empire 



STUDIES 

i. What contributed to Alexander's victory at Issus? What spoil 
came to the victors? How did Alexander treat the family of Darius? 

2. Describe the looting of Persepolis. What treasures did Alex- 
ander find there? What uses did he make of them? Describe the 
palace. What led to its destruction? 

3. Summarize the character of Alexander. What were his strong 
and what his weak points? Did he injure as well as benefit the 
countries he conquered? 



CHAPTER XXVI 

GREEK LIFE AND THOUGHT 

I. Training the Wife 

Did you yourself educate your wife to be all that a wife Socrates 

asks this 
should be, or when you received her from her father and question of 

mother was she already proficient, well skilled to dis- a chu°s?" 

charge the duties appropriate to a wife? Xenophon, 

Well skilled! (he replied). What proficiency was she Economist,?. 
likely to bring with her, when she was not quite fifteen at Gaining be- 
the time she wedded me, and during the whole period of fore mar_ 
her life had been most carefully brought up to see and 
hear as little as possible, and to ask the fewest questions? 
or do you not think one should be satisfied, if at marriage 
her whole experience consisted in knowing how to take the 
wool and make a dress, and seeing how her mother's hand- 
maidens had their daily spinning-tasks assigned them? 
For (he added), as regards control of appetite and self- 
indulgence, she had received the soundest education, and 
that I take to be the most important matter in the bringing 
up of man or woman. 

Then all else (said I) you taught your wife yourself, ischom- 
Ischomachus, until you had made her capable of attend- resolves to 
ing carefully to her appointed duties? ^}£ h his 

That did I not (replied he) until I had offered sacrifice, 
and prayed that I might teach and she might learn all that 
could conduce to the happiness of us twain. 

Soc. And did your wife join in sacrifice and prayer to 
that effect? 

283 



284 



Greek Life and Thought 



t'he is ready 
to learn. 



Woman's 
nature dif- 
ferent from 



Woman cre- 
ated for in- 
door work. 



Isch. Most certainly, with many a vow registered to 
heaven to become all she ought to be; and her whole man- 
ner showed that she would not be neglectful of what was 
taught her. 

Soc. Pray narrate to me, Ischomachus, I beg you, what 
you first essayed to teach her. To hear that story would 
please me more than any description of the most splendid 
gymnastic contest or horse-race you could give me. . . . 

(In instructing his wife Ischomachus explains:) 

"But whereas both of these, the indoor and the outdoor 
occupations alike, demand new toil and new attention, to 
meet the case," I added, " God made provision from the 
first by shaping as it seems to me, the woman's nature for 
indoor and the man's for outdoor occupations. Man's 
body and soul He furnished with a greater capacity for 
enduring heat and cold, wayfaring and military marches, 
or to repeat, He laid upon his shoulders the outdoor works. 

" While in creating the body of woman with less capacity 
for these things," I continued, "God would seem to have 
imposed upon her the indoor works; and knowing that He 
had implanted in the woman and imposed upon her the 
nurture of new-born babes, He endowed her with a larger 
share of affections for the new-born child than He be- 
stowed upon man. And since He had imposed upon 
woman the guardianship of the things imported from 
without, God, in His wisdom, perceiving that a fearful 
spirit was no detriment to guardianship, endowed the 
woman with a larger measure of timidity than He be- 
stowed upon man. Knowing further that he to whom the 
outdoor works belonged would need to defend them 
against malign attack, He endowed the man in turn with 
a larger share of courage. 

"And seeing that both alike feel the need of giving and 



Mutual Helpfulness 



285 



receiving, He set down memory and carefulness between 
them for their common use, so that you would find it hard 
to determine which of the two, the male or the female, 
has the larger share of these. So, too, God set down be- 
tween them for their common use the gift of self-control, 
where needed, adding only to that one of the twain, 
whether man or woman, which should prove the better, 
the power to be rewarded with a larger share of this per- 
fection. And for the very reason that their natures are 
not alike adapted to like ends, they stand in greater need 
of one another; and the married couple is made more use- 
ful to itself, the one fulfilling what the other lacks. 

"Now, being well aware of this, my wife," I added, 
"and knowing well what things are laid upon us twain by 
God Himself, must we not strive to perform, each in the 
best way possible, our respective duties? Law, too, gives 
her consent — law and the usage of mankind, by sanction- 
ing the wedlock of man and wife; and just as God or- 
dained them to be partners in their children, so the law 
establishes their common ownership of house and estate. 
Custom, moreover, proclaims as beautiful those excel- 
lencies of man and woman with which God gifted them at 
birth. Thus for a woman to bide tranquilly at home 
rather than roam abroad is no dishonor; but for a man to 
remain indoors, instead of devoting himself to outdoor 
pursuits, is a thing discreditable. But if a man does 
things contrary to the nature given him by God, the 
chances are, such insubordination escapes not the eye of 
Heaven; he pays the penalty, whether of neglecting his 
own works, or of performing those appropriate to woman." 

I added: "Just such works, if I mistake not, that same 
queen-bee we spoke of labors hard to perform, like yours, 
my wife, enjoined upon her by God Himself." 



Woman en- 
dowed with 
memory and 
carefulness. 



Husband 
and wife are 
partners and 
joint owners 
of the estate. 



The wife is 
like a queen- 
bee. 



286 Greek Life and Thought 

"And what sort of works are these?" she asked; "what] 
has the queen-bee to do that she seems so like myself, or 
I like her in what I have to do? " 

"Why," I answered, "she too stays in the hive and 
suffers not the other bees to idle. Those whose duty it is 
to work outside she sends forth to their labors; and all 
that each of them brings in, she notes and receives and 
stores against the day of need; but when the season for use 
has come, she distributes a just share to each. Again, it is 
she who presides over the fabric of choicely-woven cells 
within. She looks to it that warp and woof are wrought 
with speed and beauty. Under her guardian eye the brood 
of young is nursed and reared; but when the days of rear- 
ing are past and the young bees are ripe for work, she 
sends them out as colonists with one of the seed royal to 
be their leader." 

"Shall I then have to do these things?" asked my 
wife. 
The wife's " Yes," I answered, "you will need in the same way to 

of the house, stay indoors, despatching to their toils without those of 
your domestics whose work lies there. Over those whose 
appointed tasks are wrought indoors, it will be your duty 
to preside; yours to receive the stuffs brought in; yours to 
apportion part for daily use, and yours to make provision 
for the rest, to guard and garner it so that the outgoings 
destined for a year may not be expended in a month. It 
will be your duty, when the wools are introduced, to see 
that clothing is made for those who need; your duty also 
to see that the dried corn is rendered fit and serviceable 
for food. 
The care of "There is just one of all these occupations which de- 
volve upon you," I added, "that you may not find so alto- 
gether pleasing. Should any of our household fall sick, it 



Mutual Dependence 287 

will be your care to see and tend them to the recovery of 
their health." 

"Nay," she answered, "that will be my pleasantest of 
tasks, if careful nursing may touch the springs of gratitude 
and leave them friendlier than heretofore." 

And I (continued Ischomachus) was struck with admira- 
tion at her answer, and replied: "Thank you, my wife, it 
is through some such traits of forethought seen in their 
mistress-leader that the hearts of bees are won, and they 
are so loyally affectioned toward her that, if ever she 
abandon her hive, not one of them will dream of being 
left behind; but one and all must follow her.' 

And my wife made answer to me: "It would much 
astonish me (said she) did not these leader's works, you 
speak of, point to you rather than to myself. Methinks 
mine would be a pretty guardianship and distribution of 
things indoors without your provident care to see that the 
importations from without were duly made." 

"Just so," I answered, "and mine would be a pretty 
importation if there were none to guard what I imported. 
Do you not see," I added, "how pitiful is the case of those 
unfortunates who pour water into their sieves forever, as 
the story goes, and labor but in vain?" 

"Pitiful enough, poor souls," she answered, "if that is 
what they do." 

" But there are other cares, you know, and occupations," Training her 
I answered, "which are yours by right, and these you will 
find agreeable. This, for instance: to take some maiden 
who knows naught of carding wool and to make her pro- 
ficient in the art, doubling her usefulness; or to receive 
another quite ignorant of housekeeping or of service, and 
to render her skilful, loyal, serviceable, till she is worth 
her weight in gold; or again, when occasion serves, you 



288 Greek Life and Thought 

have it in your power to requite by kindness the well- 
behaved whose presence is a blessing to your house; or 
maybe to chasten the bad character, should such an one 
The reward, appear. But the greatest joy of all will be to prove your- 
self my better; to make me your faithful follower; knowing 
no dread lest as the years advance you should decline in 
honor in your household, but rather trusting that, though 
your hair turn gray, yet in proportion as you come to be a 
better helpmate to myself and to the children, a better 
guardian of our home, so will your honor increase through- 
out the household as mistress, wife, and mother, daily 
more dearly prized. Since," I added, "it is not through 
excellence of outward form, but by reason of the lustre 
of virtues shed forth upon the life of man, that increase 
is given to things beautiful and good." 

II. The Decline in Music and its Demoralizing 

Effects 

Formerly law Athenian. Under the ancient laws, my friends, the 

people was not as now the master, but rather the willing 
Plato^a™, servant of the kws> 

Megillus. What laws do you mean? 

Ath. In the first place let us speak of the laws about 
music, — that is to say, such music as then existed, — in 
order that we may trace the growth of the excess of free- 
dom from the beginning. Now music was early divided 
among us into certain kinds and manners. One sort con- 
sisted of prayers to the Gods, which were called hymns; 
and there was another and opposite sort called lamenta- 
tions, and another termed paeans, and another celebrating 
the birth of Dionysus, called, I believe, "dithyrambs." 
And they used the actual word "laws" (vofAOi) for an- 
other kind of song; and to this they added the term 



m. 700. 



The Beginning of Lawlessness 289 

"citharcedic." All these and others were duly distin- 
guished, nor were the performers allowed to confuse one 
style of music with another. And the authority which The audience 
determined and gave judgment, and punished the dis- performance 
obedient, was not expressed in a hiss, nor in the most SldnqSet 
unmusical shouts of the multitude, as in our days, nor in 
applause and clapping of hands. But the directors of 
public instruction insisted that the spectators should 
listen in silence to the end; and boys and their tutors, and 
the multitude in general, were kept quiet by a hint from a 
stick. Such was the good order which the multitude were 
willing to observe; they would never have dared to give 
judgment by noisy cries. 

And then, as time went on, the poets themselves intro- The decline, 
duced the reign of vulgar and lawless innovation. They 
were men of genius, but they had no perception of what is 
just and lawful in music; raging like Bacchanals and Change from 
possessed with inordinate delights — mingling lamenta- music to 
tions with hymns, and paeans with dithyrambs; imitating ra s- time - 
the sounds of the flute on the lyre, and making one general 
confusion; ignorantly affirming that music has no truth, 
and whether good or bad, can only be judged of rightly by 
the pleasure of the hearer. 

And by composing such licentious works, and adding to 
them words as licentious, they have inspired the multitude 
with lawlessness and boldness, and made them fancy that The spirit of 
they can judge for themselves about melody and song, begins in the 
And in this way the theatres from being mute have be- 
come vocal, as though they had understanding of good and 
bad in music and poetry; and instead of an aristocracy, an 
evil sort of theatrocracy has grown up. For if the democ- 
racy which judged had only consisted of educated persons, 
no fatal harm would have been done; but in music there 



theatre. 



290 



Greek Life and Thought 



It spreads 
through the 
whole com- 
munity. 



Socrates 
goes to 
Peiraeus. 

Plato, Re- 
Public (open- 
ing). 



Cephalus is 
father of 
Lysias the 
orator; An- 
cient World, 
287. They 
were a fam- 
ily of resident 
aliens 
(metics). 



first arose the universal conceit of omniscience and general 
lawlessness; — freedom came following afterward, and men, 
fancying that they knew what they did not know, had no 
longer any fear, and the absence of fear begets shameless- 
ness. For what is this shamelessness, which is so evil a 
thing, but the insolent refusal to regard the opinion of the 
better by reason of an over-daring sort of liberty? 

Meg. Very true. 

Ath. Consequent upon this freedom comes the other 
freedom, of disobedience to rulers; and then the attempt 
to escape the control and exhortation of father, mother, 
elders, and when near the end, the control of the laws also; 
and at the very end there is the contempt of oaths and 
pledges, and no regard at all for the Gods, — herein they 
exhibit and imitate the old so-called Titanic nature, and 
come to the same point as the Titans when they rebelled 
against God, leading a life of endless evils. 

III. Socrates Visits Cephalus 

I went down yesterday to the Peiraeus with Glaucon the 
son of Ariston, that I might offer up my prayers to the 
goddess; and also because I wanted to see in what manner 
they would celebrate the festival, which was a new thing. 
I was delighted with the procession of the inhabitants; 
but that of the Thracians was equally, if not more, beauti- 
ful. When we had finished our prayers and viewed the 
spectacle, we turned in the direction of the city; and at 
that instant Polemarchus the son of Cephalus chanced to 
catch sight of us from a distance as we were starting on 
our way home, and told his servant to run and bid us wait 
for him. The servant took hold of me by the cloak be- 
hind, and said: Polemarchus desires you to wait. 

I turned round, and asked him where his master was. 



A Conversation in the Street 291 

There he is, saith the youth, coming after you, if you 
will only wait. 

Certainly we will, said Glaucon; and in a few minutes 
Polemarchus appeared, and with him Adeimantus, Glau- 
con's brother, Niceratus, the son of Nicias, and several Nicias is the 

well-known 

others who had been at the procession. general; 

Polemarchus said to me: I perceive, Socrates, that you world! 222, L, 
and your companion are already on your way to the city. 227-232. 

You are not far wrong, I said. 

But do you see, he rejoined, how many we are? 

Of course. 

And are you stronger than all these? for if not, you will 
have to remain where you are. 

May there not be the alternative, I said, that we may 
persuade you to let us go? 

But can you persuade us, if we refuse to listen to you? 
he said. 

Certainly not, replied Glaucon. 

Then we are not going to listen; of that you may be 
assured. 

Adeimantus added: Has no one told you of the torch A torch race, 
race on horseback in honor of the goddess which will take 
place in the evening? 

With horses! I replied: That is a novelty. Will horse- 
men carry torches and pass them to one another during 
the races? 

Yes, said Polemarchus, and not only so, but a festival 
will be celebrated at night, which you certainly ought to 
see. Let us rise soon after supper and see this festival; 
there will be a gathering of young men, and we will have 
a good talk. Stay then, and do not be perverse. 

Glaucon said: I suppose since you insist, that we must. 

Very good, I replied. 



292 



Greek Life and Thought 



Old age 
takes in- 
creased 
pleasure in 
conversa- 
tion. 



The com- 
plaints of 
the old. 



Accordingly we went with Polemarchus to his house; 
and there we found his brothers Lysias and Euthydemus, 
and with them Thrasymachus the Chalcedonian, Char- 
man tides the Paeanian, and Cleitophon the son of Aristony- 
mus. There too was Cephalus the father of Polemarchus, 
whom I had not seen for a long time, and I thought him 
very much aged. He was seated on a cushioned chair, 
and had a garland on his head, for he had been sacrificing 
in the court; and there were some other chairs in the room 
arranged in a semicircle, upon which we sat down by him. 
He saluted me eagerly, and then he said: 

You don't come to see me, Socrates, as often as you 
ought: if I were still able to go and see you I would not ask 
you to come to me. But at my age I can hardly get to the 
city, and therefore you should come of tener to the Peiraeus. 
For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the 
body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and 
charm of conversation. Do not then deny my request, 
but make our house your resort and keep company with 
these young men; we are old friends, and you will be quite 
at home with us. 

I replied: There is nothing which for my part I like 
better, Cephalus, than conversing with aged men; for I 
regard £hem as travellers who have gone a journey which 
I too may have to go, and of whom I ought to enquire, 
whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and diffi- 
cult. And this is a question which I should like to ask of 
you who have arrived at that time which the poets call the 
" threshold of old age." — Is life harder towards the end, 
or what report do you give of it? 

I will tell you, Socrates, he said, what my own feeling is. 
Men of my age flock together; we are birds of a feather, 
as the old proverb says; and at our meetings the tale of 



May the Aged be Happy? 293 

my acquaintance commonly is — I cannot eat, I cannot 

drink; the pleasures of youth and love are fled away; 

there was a good time once, but now that is gone, and life 

is no longer life. Some complain of the slights which are 

put upon them by relations, and they will tell you sadly of 

how many evils their old age is the cause. But to me, 

Socrates, these complainers seem to blame that which is 

not really in fault. . . . Certainly old age has a great The advan- 

sense of calm and freedom, when the passions relax their age. 

hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from the grasp 

not of one mad master only, but of many. The truth is, 

Socrates, that these regrets, and also the complaints about 

relations, are to be attributed to the same cause, which is 

not old age, but men's characters and tempers; for he who 

is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure 

of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth 

and age are equally a burden. 

I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, Do none but 

the rich find 
that he might go on — Yes, Cephalus, I said; but I rather enjoyment 

suspect that people in general are not convinced by you 
when you speak thus; they think that old age sits lightly 
upon you, not because of your happy disposition, but be- 
cause you are rich, and wealth is well known to be a great 
comforter. 

You are right, he replied, they are not convinced; and 
there is something in what they say; not however, so 
much as they imagine. I might answer them as Themis- 
tocles answered the Seriphian who was abusing him and 
saying that he was famous not for his own merits but be- 
cause he was an Athenian: "If you had been a native of 
my country or I of yours, neither of us would have been 
famous." And to those who are not rich and are im- 
patient of old age, the same reply may be made; for to the 



when old? 



294 



Greek Life and Thought 



The Greek 
attitude to- 
ward money- 
making. 



Cephalus 
belonged to 
the industrial 
class, and yet 
the chief ob- 
ject of his 
life was not 
money- 
making. We 
do not know 
any single 
Greek whose 
sole aim was 
acquisition. 



good poor man old age cannot be a light burden nor can a 
bad rich man ever have peace with himself. 

May I ask, Cephalus, whether your fortune was for the 
most part inherited or acquired by you? 

Acquired! Socrates, do you want to know how much I 
acquired? In the art of making money I have been mid- 
way between my father and grandfather; for my grand- 
father, whose name I bear, doubled and trebled the value 
of his patrimony, that which he inherited being much what 
I possess now; but my father Lysanias reduced the prop- 
erty below what it is at present; and I shall be satisfied if 
I leave to these my sons not less but a little more than 
I received. 

That was why I asked you the question, I replied, be- 
cause I see that you are indifferent about money, which is 
a characteristic rather of those who have inherited their 
fortunes than of those who have acquired them; the makers 
of fortunes have a second love of money as a creation of 
their own, resembling the affection of authors for their 
own poems, or of parents for their children, besides that 
natural love of it for the sake of use and profit which is 
common to them and all men. And hence they are very 
bad company, for they can talk about nothing but the 
praises of wealth. 

IV. Education 



Education 
should be 
public, and 
the same for 
all. 

Aristotle, 
Politics, viii.i. 



Since the whole city has one end, it is manifest that 
education should be one and the same for all, and that it 
should be public, and not private, — not as at present, 
when every one looks after his own children separately, 
and gives them separate instruction of the sort which he 
thinks best; the training in things which are of common 
interest should be the same for all. Neither must we 



Liberal Education 295 

suppose that any one of the citizens belongs to himself, Ancient 

r 1 11 , 1 1 1 1 r 1 T^ orW, 202-4. 

for they all belong to the state, and are each of them a 
part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable 
from the care of the whole. In this particular the Lace- 
daemonians are to be praised, for they take the greatest 
pains about their children, and make education the busi- 
ness of the state. . . . 

There can be no doubt that children should be taught What kind 

of knowl- 
those useful things which are really necessary, but not all edge is use- 
things; for occupations are divided into liberal and il- 
liberal: and to young children should be imparted only Aristotle, 

..'.,., .... r _ , . . Politics, 

such kinds of knowledge as will be useful to them without v m. 2. 
vulgarizing them. And any occupation, art, or science, 
which makes the body or soul or mind of the freeman less 
fit for the practice or exercise of virtue, is vulgar; where- 
fore we call those arts vulgar which tend to deform the 
body, and likewise all paid employments, for they absorb 
and degrade the mind. There are also some liberal arts 
quite proper for a freeman to acquire, but only in a certain 
degree, and if he attend to them too closely, in order to 
attain perfection in them, the same evil effects will fol- 
low. . . . 

The customary branches of education are in number Branches of 
r i / \ i« 1 • • / \ • education, 

four: they are — (1) reading and writing, (2) gymnastic 

exercises, (3) music, to which is sometimes added (4) draw- 
ing. Of these, reading and writing and drawing are re- 
garded as useful for the purposes of life in a variety of 
ways, and gymnastic exercises are thought to infuse 
courage. Concerning music a doubt may be raised — in 
our own day most men cultivate it for the sake of pleasure, 
but originally it was included in education, because nature 
herself, as has been often said, requires that we should be 
able, not only to work well, but to use leisure well. 



296 Greek Life and Thought 



STUDIES 

1. What does Ischomachus consider the chief thing in education? 
What training had his wife prior to marriage? What did he aim to 
teach her? What in detail was the wife's work? What was to be her 
reward? 

2. What was the importance of music in Greece? Under what 
discipline was the theatre kept? What change of music took place 
and with what effect on character? 

3. From this passage what may we learn of home life and social 
life? What did Cephalus think of old age? How did this manu- 
facturer regard money-making? What was the social standing of 
this family of resident aliens? 

4. What does Aristotle say was the actual education of the time, 
and what improvement does he suggest? What in his opinion should 
children be taught? What were the customary branches? What 
was his idea of a liberal education? Why should we attach any 
importance to his opinion? 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE HELLENISTIC AGE 

I. The Achaean League 

The Achaeans, as I have stated before, have in our time The league 

made extraordinary progress in material prosperity and ponnesus. 

internal unity. For though many statesmen had tried in p i y bius ii. 

past times to induce the Peloponnesians to join in a 37> 

league for the common interests of all, and had always Ancient 

t -i i j u t \ u- World, 300-3. 

failed, because every one was working to secure nis own 
power rather than the freedom of the whole; yet in our 
day this policy has made such progress, and been carried 
out with such completeness, that not only is there in the 
Peloponnese a community of interests such as exists be- 
tween allies or friends, but an absolute identity of laws, 
weights, measures, and currency. All the states have the 
same magistrates, senate, and judges. Nor is there any 
difference between the entire Peloponnese and a single 
city, except in the fact that its inhabitants are not in- 
cluded within the same wall; in other respects, both as a 
whole and in their individual cities, there is a nearly abso- 
lute assimilation of institutions. 

It will be useful to ascertain, to begin with, how it came Rise of the 
to pass that the name of the Achaeans became the uni- 
versal one for all the inhabitants of the Peloponnese. For ° y " "' 3 
the -original bearers of this ancestral name have no su- 
periority over others, either in the size of their territory 
and cities, or in wealth, or in the prowess of their men. 
For they are a long way from being superior to the Arca- 

297 



298 The Hellenistic Age 

dians and Lacedaemonians in number of inhabitants and 
extent of territory; nor can these latter nations be said to 
yield the first place in warlike courage to any Greek 
people whatever. Whence then comes it that these na- 
tions, with the rest of the inhabitants of the Peloponnese, 
have been content to adopt the constitution and name of 
the Achoeans? To speak of chance in such a matter would 
not be to offer any adequate solution of the question, and 
would be a mere idle evasion. A cause must be sought; 
for without a cause nothing, expected or unexpected, can 
be accomplished. The cause, then, in my opinion, was 
this. Nowhere could be found a more unalloyed and de- 
liberately established system of equality and absolute 
freedom, — in a word, of democracy, — than among the 
Achaeans. This constitution found many of the Pelopon- 
nesians ready enough to adopt it of their own accord: 
many were brought to share it by persuasion and argu- 
ment: some though acting upon compulsion at first, were 
quickly brought to acquiesce in its benefits; for none of 
the original members had any special privilege reserved 
for them, but equal rights were given to all comers: the 
object aimed at was therefore quickly attained by the 
two most unfailing expedients of equality and fraternity. 
This then must be looked upon as the source and original 
cause of Peloponnesian unity and consequent prosperity. 

Its officers. For the first twenty-five years of the league between the 
Polyb. H. 43. cities I have mentioned, a secretary and two generals for 
the whole union were elected by each city in turn. But 
after this period they determined to appoint one general 
only, and put the entire management of the affairs of the 
union in his hands. The first to obtain this honor was 
Margus of Caryneia. In the fourth year after this man's 



Aratus; a Federal Assembly 299 

tenure of the office, Aratus of Sicyon caused his city to 

join the league, which, by his energy and courage, he had, 

when only twenty years of age, delivered from the yoke 

of its tyrant. In the eighth year again after this, Aratus, Aratus. 

being elected general for the second time, laid a plot to 

seize the Acrocorinthus, then held by Antigonus; and by Acrocorin- 

. _ , . . , . P1-I-.1 r thus was the 

success freed the inhabitants of the Peloponnese trom a citadel of 

source of serious alarm : and having thus liberated Corinth Antigonus 

he caused it to join the league. In his same term of office ™ as ™ ler of 

J ° Macedon. 

he got Megara into his hands, and caused it to join also. 
These events occurred in the year before the decisive de- 242 B.C. 
feat of the Carthaginians, in consequence of which they 
evacuated Sicily and consented for the first time to pay 
tribute to Rome. 

Having made this remarkable progress in his design in 
so short a time, Aratus continued thenceforth in the posi- 
tion of leader of the Achaean league, and in the consistent 
direction of his whole policy to one single end; which was 
to expel Macedonians from the Peloponnese, to depose the 
despots, and to establish in each state the common free- 
dom which their ancestors had enjoyed before them. 

Immediately after Phillopcemen had been succeeded by A session of 

Aristaenus as general, the ambassadors of king Ptolemy assembly, 

arrived, while the league meeting was assembled at p i y bi U s 

Megalopolis. King Eumenes also had despatched an **»• IO - 

embassy offering to give the Achaeans one hundred and Offer of king 

. 1. • 1 • ii! Eumenes of 

twenty talents, on condition that it was invested and the Pergamum. 
interest used to pay the council of the league at the time various 
of the federal assemblies. Ambassadors came also from ^eTriend"- 
king Seleucus, to renew his friendship with them and ship of the 



offering a present of a fleet of ten ships of war. . . . 
Next came the ambassadors from Eumenes, who re- 



league. 



was high. 



300 The Hellenistic Age 

newed the ancestral friendship of the king with the 
Achaeans, and stated to the assembly the offer made by 
him. They spoke at great length on these subjects, and 
retired after setting forth the greatness of the king's kind- 
ness and affection to the nation. 
The offer re- After they had finished their speech, Apollonidas of 
Sic)'on rose and said that, "As far as the amount of the 
money was concerned, it was a present worthy of the 
Achaeans. But if they looked to the intention of the 
donor, or to the purpose to which the gift was to 
be applied, none could well be more insulting and 
more unconstitutional. The laws prohibited any one, 
The moral whether a private individual or magistrate, from accept- 
the league ing presents from a king on any pretence whatever; but if 
they took this money they would every one of them be 
plainly accepting a present, which was at once the gravest 
possible breach of the law, and confessedly the deepest 
personal disgrace. For that the council should take a 
great wage from Eumenes, and meet to deliberate on the 
interests of the league after swallowing such a bait, was 
manifestly disgraceful and injurious. It was Eumenes 
that offered money now; presently it would be Prusias; 
and then Seleucus. But as the interests of democracies 
and of kings are quite opposite to each other, and as our 
most frequent and most important deliberations concern 
the points of controversy arising between us and the 
kings, one of two things must necessarily happen; either 
the interests of the king will have precedence over our 
own, or we must incur the reproach of ingratitude for 
opposing our paymasters." He therefore urged the 
Achaeans not only to decline the offer, but to hold Eumenes 
in detestation for thinking of making it. . . . 
After these speeches had been delivered, the people 



The Federal Assembly 301 

showed such signs of enthusiastic approval that no one 
ventured to speak on the side of the king; but the whole 
assembly rejected the offer by acclamation, though its 
amount certainly made it exceedingly tempting. 
The next subject introduced for debate was that of Ki Q s 

Ptolemy of 
king Ptolemy. The ambassadors who had been on the Egypt seeks 

mission to Ptolemy were called forward, and Lycortas, J "eaty. ° 

acting as spokesman, began by stating how they had Ib I2 

interchanged oaths of alliance with the king; and next 

announced that they brought a present from the king to 

the Achaean league of six thousand stands of arms for 

peltasts, and two thousand talents in bronze coinage. 

He added a panegyric on the king, and finished his speech 

by a brief reference to the goodwill and active benevolence 

of the king towards the Achaeans. Upon this the general There were 

of the Achaeans, Aristaenus, stood up and asked Lycortas ties between 

and his colleagues in the embassy to Ptolemy " which l estates - 

alliance it was that he had thus renewed? . . . . " 

And when no one was able to explain, not even Philip- 
cemen himself, who had been in office when the renewal 
was made, nor Lycortas and his colleagues who had been 
on the mission to Alexandria, these men all began to be 
regarded as careless in conducting the business of the 
league; while Aristaenus acquired great reputation as be- 
ing the only man who knew what he was talking about; 
and finally, the assembly refused to allow the ratification, 
voting on account of this blunder that the business should 
be postponed. 

Then the ambassadors from Seleucus entered with their 
proposal. The Achaeans, however, voted to renew the 
friendship with Seleucus, but to decline for the present 
the gift of the ships. 



302 



The Hellenistic Age 



A slight 
lapse of the 

Rhodians. 

Polybius 
xxxi. 25. 

These words 
are a high 
compliment 
to the Greek 
state in gen- 
eral, and 
particularly 
to Rhodes. 

Eumenes was 
king of Per- 
gamum. The 
gift was made 
162 B.C. 



II. High Sense of Honor of the Greek States 

Though in other respects maintaining the dignity of 
their states, the Rhodians made, in my opinion, a slight 
lapse in this period. They had received 280,000 medimni 
of grain from Eumenes, that its value might be invested 
and the interest devoted to pay the fees of the tutors and 
schoolmasters of their sons. One might accept this from 
friends in a case of financial embarrassment, as one might 
in private life, rather than allow children to remain un- 
educated for want of means. But where means are abund- 
ant, a man would rather do anything than allow the 
schoolmaster's fee to be supplied by a joint contribution 
from his friends. And in proportion as a state should 
hold higher notions than an individual, so ought govern- 
ments to be more jealous of their dignity than private 
men, and above all a Rhodian government, considering 
the wealth of the country and its high pretensions. 



Priene suf- 
fers rather 
than betray 
a trust. 

Polybius 
xxxiii. 6. 



Orophernes 
had become 
king of Cap- 
padocia in 
place of 
Ariarathes; 
but the lat- 
ter eventually 
recovered 
his kingdom. 



About this time an unexpected misfortune befell the 
people of Priene. They had received a deposit of four 
hundred talents from Orophernes when he got possession 
of the kingdom; and subsequently when Ariarathes re- 
covered his dominion he demanded the money of them. 
But they acted like honest men, in my opinion, in de- 
claring that they would deliver it to no one as long as 
Orophernes was alive, except to the person who deposited 
it with them; while Ariarathes was thought by many to be 
committing a breach of equity in demanding a deposit 
made by another. Up to this point, however, one might 
perhaps pardon his making the attempt, because he looked 
upon the money as belonging to his own kingdom; but to 
push his anger and imperious determination as much 



Priene; Alexandria 303 

farther as he did seems utterly unjustifiable. At the Attaius was 

• 1- mi king of 

period I refer to, then, he sent troops to pillage the tern- Pergamum, 

tory of Priene, Attaius assisting and urging him on from a toAriarathes. 

private grudge which he entertained toward the Prienians. 

After losing many slaves and cattle, some of them being 

slaughtered close to the city itself, the Prienians, unable 

to defend themselves, first sent an embassy to the Rho- Part of the 

text here is 

dians and eventually appealed for protection to Rome. . . . wanting. 

But he would not listen to the proposal. Hence it came 

about that the Prienians, who had great hopes from hold- They had 

ing so large a sum of money, found themselves entirely care of the 

disappointed. For they repaid Orophernes his deposit, ^ja bring 

and thanks to this same deposit, were unjustly exposed to th , em some 

...... 1 advantage. 

severe damage at the hands of Anaratnes. 

III. Alexandria 
The former kings of Egypt, satisfied with what they Exciusive- 

, • r r ■ ne SS Of the 

possessed, and not desirous of foreign commerce, enter- early Egyp- 
tained a dislike to all mariners, especially the Greeks, faan ings * 
who on account of the poverty of their own country, Strabo xvii. 
ravaged and coveted the property of other nations. They 
stationed a guard, who had orders to keep or! all persons 
who approached. To the guard was assigned as a place of 
residence the spot called Rhacotis, which is now a part of 
the city of Alexandria, situated above the arsenal. At 
that time, however, it was a village. The country about 
the village was given up to herdsmen, who were also able 
by their numbers to prevent strangers from entering the 
country. 
When Alexander arrived, and perceived the advantages Founding of 

e .1 • • ii • 1 * m 1 1 • 1 Alexandria. 

01 the situation, he determined to build the city on the 



harbor. The resulting prosperity of the place was in- Ancient 
timated, it is said, by a presage which occurred while the 



World, 281. 



3°4 



The Hellenistic Age 



Advantages 
of the city. 

Strabo xvii. 
i. 7- 



Its whole- 
some cli- 
mate. 



plan of the city was tracing. The architects were en- 
gaged in marking out the line of the wall with chalk, and 
had consumed it all, when the king arrived, whereupon 
the dispensers of flour supplied the workmen with a part 
of the flour which was provided for their own use; and this 
substance was used in tracing the greater part of the di- 
visions of the streets. This, they said, was a good omen 
for the city. 

The advantages of the city are of various kinds. The 
site is washed by two seas; on the north by what is called 
the Egyptian Sea, and on the south by the sea of the lake 
Mareia, which is also called Mareotis. This lake is filled 
by many canals from the Nile, both by those above and 
those at the sides, through which a greater quantity of 
merchandise is imported than through those communicat- 
ing with the sea. Hence the harbor on the lake is richer 
than the maritime harbor. The exports by sea from 
Alexandria exceed the imports. This any person may as- 
certain, at either Alexandria or Dicsearchia, by watching 
the arrival and departure of the merchant vessels, and 
observing how much heavier or lighter their cargoes are 
when they depart or when they return. 

In addition to the wealth derived from merchandise 
landed at the harbors on each side, on the sea and on the 
lake, the fine air is worthy of remark : this results from the 
city's being on two sides surrounded by water, and from 
the favorable effects of the rise of the Nile. For other 
cities, situated near lakes, have during the heats of sum- 
mer a heavy and suffocating atmosphere, and lakes at 
their margins become swampy by the evaporation oc- 
casioned by the sun's heat. When a large quantity of 
moisture is exhaled from swamps, a noxious vapor rises, 
and is the cause of pestilential disorders. But at Alex- 



Public Buildings of Alexandria 305 

andria, at the beginning of summer, the Nile, being full, 
fills the lake also, and leaves no marshy matter which is 
likely to occasion deadly vapors. At the same period the 
Etesian winds blow from the north over a large expanse of 
sea, and the Alexandrines in consequence pass their sum- 
mer very pleasantly. 

The shape of the site of the city is that of a chlamys or The plan of 

the city. 
military cloak. The sides, which determine the length, 

are surrounded by water, and are about thirty stadia in 
extent; but the isthmuses, which determine the breadth 
of the sides, are each of seven or eight stadia, bounded on 
one side by the sea, and on the other by the lake. The 
whole city is intersected by streets for the passage of 
horsemen and chariots. Two of these are very broad, 
exceeding a plethrum in breadth, and cut one another A plethrum 
at right angles. It contains also very beautiful public f ee t. 
grounds, and royal palaces, which occupy a fourth or even 
a third part of its whole extent. For as each of the kings 
was desirous of adding some embellishment to the places 
dedicated to the public use, each added to the works al- 
ready existing a building at his own expense; hence the 
expression of the poet may be here applied, "One after 
the other springs." All the buildings are connected with 
one another and with the harbor, and those also which 
are beyond it. 

The Museum is a part of the palaces. It has a public The Mu- 
walk and a place furnished with seats and a large hall, in 
which the men of learning, who belong to the Museum, 
take their common meal. This community possesses also 
property in common; and a priest, formerly appointed by 
the kings but at present by Caesar, presides over the 
Museum. 

A part belonging to the palaces consists of the so-called 



ings. 
lb. 10. 



306 The Hellenistic Age 

Sema, an enclosure which contained the tombs of the 
kings and that of Alexander (the Great). . . . Ptolemy 
carried away the body of Alexander, and deposited it at 
xAlexandria in the place where it now lies; not indeed in 
the same coffin, for the present one is of alabaster, whereas 
Ptolemy had deposited it in one of gold. . . . 
Other build- In short, the city of Alexandria abounds in public and 
sacred buildings. The most beautiful of the former is the 
Gymnasium with porticos exceeding a stadium in extent. 
In the middle of it are a court of justice and groves. Here 
also is a Paneium, an artificial mound of the shape of a 
fir-cone, resembling a pile of rock, to the top of which 
there is an ascent by a spiral path. From the summit 
may be seen the whole city lying all around and beneath it. 

IV. Science 

The form of Geometry and astronomy, as we before remarked, seem 
absolutely indispensable in this science (geography). This 

straboi. 1. in fact is evident, that without some such assistance, it 
would be impossible to be accurately acquainted with the 
configuration of the earth; its zones, dimensions, and the 
like information. 

As the size of the earth has been demonstrated by other 
writers, we shall here take for granted and receive as ac- 
curate what they have advanced. We shall also assume 
that the earth is spheroidal, that its surface is likewise 
spheroidal, and above all, that bodies have a tendency 
towards its centre, which latter point is clear to the per- 
ception of the most average understanding. However, we 
may show summarily that the earth is spheroidal, from 
the consideration that all things however distant tend to 
its centre, and that every body is attracted toward its 
centre of gravity; this is more distinctly proved from ob- 



20 



The Shape and the Size of the Earth 307 

servations of the sea and sky, for here the evidence of the 
senses, and common observation, is alone requisite. The 
convexity of the sea is a further proof of this to those who 
have sailed; for they cannot perceive lights at a distance 
when placed at the same level as their eyes, but if raised 
on high, they at once become perceptible to vision, though 
at the same time further removed. So, when the eye is 
raised, it sees what before was utterly imperceptible. 
Homer speaks of this when he says, 

Lifted up on the vast wave he quickly beheld afar. Odyssey v. 

393- 

Sailors, as they approach their destination, behold the 
shore continually raising itself to their view; and objects 
which had at first seemed low, begin to elevate them- 
selves. Our gnomons also are, among other things, evi- 
dence of the revolution of the heavenly bodies; and com- 
mon sense at once shows us, that if the depth of the earth 
were infinite, such a revolution could not take place. 

Further, endeavoring to support the opinion that it is Dimensions 

, . 1 1 , m 1 , , of the earth 

in accordance with natural philosophy to reckon the and the 

greatest dimension of the habitable earth from east to Ss^ixcum - 
west, he (Eratosthenes) says that, according to the laws of navigation, 
natural philosophy, the habitable earth ought to occupy a Eratosthe- 
greater length from east to west, than its breadth from by S 'strabo e i. 
north to south. The temperate zone, which we have 4 " 6 ' 
already designated as the longest zone, is that which the 
mathematicians denominate a continuous circle returning 
upon itself. So that if the extent of the Atlantic Ocean 
were not an obstacle, we might easily pass by sea from 
Iberia to India, still keeping in the same parallel; the re- 
maining portion of which parallel, measured as above in 
stadia, occupies more than a third of the whole circle: 
since the parallel drawn through Athens, on which we 



3 o8 



The Hellenistic Age 



A stadium is have taken the distances from India to Iberia, does not 
contain altogether 200,000 stadia. 1 



Physiology. 

Pliny, Natu- 
ral History, 
xi. 69, citing 
in part, 
Herophilus 
(3d century 
B.C.). 

But Heropk- 

ilus taught 
that the 
brain was 
the seat of 
the mind. 

Herophilus 
taught the 
circulation 
of the blood. 



Herophilus 
distin- 
guished the 
arteries from 
the veins 
(and we may 
add, the 
sensory from 
the motor 
nerves). 

lb. 88. 



Contract of 
marriage in 
Egypt. 
Shortly be- 
fore Alexan- 
der's con- 
quest. 

1 argenteus= 
5 shekels, 
1 shekel=6 
obols. 



The heart is the principal seat of the heat of the body; 
it is constantly beating, and moves as though it were one 
animal enclosed within another. It is enveloped in a 
membrane equally supple and strong, and is protected by 
the bulwarks formed by the ribs and the bone of the 
breast, as the primary source and origin of life. It con- 
tains within itself the primary receptacles for the spirit 
and the blood, in its sinuous cavity, which in the larger 
animals is threefold and in all at least twofold. Here the 
mind has its abode. From this source proceed two large 
veins, which branch into the front part and the back 
part of the body, and which, spreading out in a series of 
branches, convey the vital blood by other smaller veins 
over the whole body. . . . 

The pulsation of the arteries is more perceptible on the 
surface of the limbs, and affords indications of nearly 
every disease, being either stationary, quickened or re- 
tarded, conformably to certain measures and metrical 
laws, which depend on the age of the patient, and which 
have been described with remarkable skill by Herophilus, 
who has been regarded as a prophet in the wondrous art 
of medicine. 

V. Social Life 

I have accepted thee for wife, I have given thee one 
argenteus, in shekels 5, one argenteus in all for thy woman's 
gift. I must give thee 6 obols, their half is 3, to-day 6, 
by the month 3, by the double month 6, 36 for a year: 
equal to one argenteus and a fifth in shekels 6; one ar- 

^his would give a circumference of about 22,700 miles for the 
thirty-sixth parallel, or about 28,500 miles for the equator. 



A Marriage Contract; Two Letters 309 

genteus and one fifth in all for thy toilet for a year. The interest 
* t . , , , 1 ,r of thls doc u- 

Lastly a tenth of an argenteus, in shekels one half, one ment lies in 

argenteus one tenth of thy pin money by the month, provTsions 6 

which makes one argenteus and one fifth, in shekels 6, one made f ° r the 

' ' wife. From 

argenteus and one fifth for thy pin money during the year, the extract 

Thy pin money for one year is apart from thy toilet admitted 

money. I must give it to thee each year, and it is thy namesfofper- 

right to exact the payment of thy toilet money, and thy sons con- 

. i-iiii T cerned, and 

pin money, which are to be placed to my account. I must other techni- 

give it to thee. Thy eldest son, my eldest son, shall be the J^S^ the 

heir of all my property, present and future. I will estab- and the ^ nd - 

lish thee as wife. the Past, x. 

In case I should despise thee, in case I should take an- 77 

other wife than thee, I will give thee 20 argenteus, in argenteus 

shekels 100, 20 argenteus in all. The entire property one tenth 

. . means one 

which is mine, and which I shall possess, is security of all tenth 
the above words, until I have accomplished them accord- 
ing to their tenor. 

We have arrived in health at Lampsacus, myself and Letter of 
Pythocles and Hermarchus and Ctesippus, and there we a child, 
have found Themistas and the rest of the friends in health. Miliigan, 
It is good if you also are in health and your grandmother, G p ee } ri f 
and obey your grandfather and matron in all things, as 
you have done before. For be sure, the reason why both tury B.C. 
I and all the rest love you so much is that you obey these cu ^ s j^e 
in all things. . . . f amo f P hi " 

losopher. 

TT 1 • 1 1 1 . xr The child 

Isias to Hephaestion her brother greeting. If you are was probably 

well, and things in general are going right, it would be as I und^TrnT 

am continually praying to the gods. I myself am in good care - 

health, and the child and all at home, making mention of Letter of 

& Isias to 

you continually. When I got your letter from Horus, in Hephaestion. 

which you explained that you were in retreat in the 



3i° 



The Hellenistic Age 



Milligan, 
p. gf. 
168 B.C. 

In Egypt 
husband and 
wife often 
called each 
other sister 
and brother; 
sometimes 
they were so 
related. 

The wife 
complains 
that her hus- 
band, when 
freed from 
his vow to 
the god, does 
not return 
to her. 

It is thought 
that those 
under a vow 
at this tem- 
ple had some- 
thing of the 
character of 
monks. 



A letter of 
introduc- 
tion. 



Milligan, 
p. 24 f. 

Second cen- 
tury B.C. 



Serapeum at Memphis, I immediately gave thanks to the 
gods that you were well; but that you did not return when 
all those who were shut up with you arrived distresses me; 
for having piloted myself and your child out of such a 
crisis, and having come to the last extremity because of 
the high price of grain, and thinking that now at last on 
your return I should obtain some relief, you have never 
even thought of returning, nor spared a look for our help- 
less state. While you were still at home, I went short 
altogether, not to mention how long a time has passed 
since, and such disasters; and you having sent nothing. 
And now that Horus who brought the letter has told 
about your having been released from your retreat, I am 
utterly distressed. Nor is this all, but since your mother 
is in great trouble about it, I entreat you for her sake and 
for ours to return to the city, unless indeed something 
most pressing occupies you. Pray take care of yourself 
that you may be in health. Good-bye. 
(Addressed) To Hephaestion. 

Polycrates to Philoxenus greeting. If you are well and 
things in general are going right, it will be as we desire. 
We ourselves are in health. As regards those things we 
wished, we have sent you Glaucias who is personally at- 
tached to us to consult you. Please therefore give him a 
hearing, and instruct him concerning those things he has 
come about. But above all take care of yourself that you 
may be in health. Good-bye. 

(Addressed) To Philoxenus. 



STUDIES 

1. Why had not Peloponnesus united under one government? 
What advantages came to this region from the Achaean league? 
What causes contributed to the rise of this league? What elements 



Studies 311 

of democracy had it? What were its officers? What part had Aratus 
in the building of the union? What kind of business came before the 
federal assembly described by Polybius? Why did various kings 
seek the friendship of the league? What stand did the league take 
toward the offer of gifts? 

2. How did the Rhodians fall somewhat below the Achaeans in 
honor? Would a modern state or educational institution accept such 
a gift? What did Polybius consider wrong in such acceptance? Why 
do we say his opinion of the Rhodians is complimentary to them and 
to the Greeks in general? Describe the conduct of Priene in defend- 
ing a trust committed to her. From these passages what do you 
conclude as to Greek character at this time? 

3. Describe the situation of Alexandria; its climate. Describe its 
extent and plan. What was the Museum? What was its purpose? 
What were the other public works? 

4. Enumerate the sciences mentioned in this selection. What did 
the ancients know of the form and dimensions of the earth? How did 
the}' prove the earth to be round? What knowledge had Herophilu? 
of physiology? 

5. What are the terms of the marriage contract here mentioned? 



BOOK III 

Rome 

CHAPTER XXVIU 

A. INTRODUCTION TO THE SOURCES 

The Romans derived all the elements of their higher The begin- 
culture from the Greeks. The most valuable of these writing, 
acquisitions was the alphabet. At an unknown time in the 
period of the kings some of the Romans learned from the 
Greeks to read and write. Priests wrote prayers and Ancient 
rituals; and the pontiffs composed the fasti, or calendar — 
a list of days of each month setting forth the festivals, the 
market-days, and the days which were lucky or unlucky 
for doing business. Little however was written that 
could be of service to the historians, who lived hundreds 
of years afterward. Because of the lack of such service- 
able material we call the regal period prehistoric. 

About the beginning of the Republic the Romans com- The fasti, 
menced to keep a list — also called fasti — of their annual treaties, 
magistrates, and to record their laws and treaties. Gradu- 
ally was formed a considerable body of written material, 
consisting of the documents above mentioned and of 
funeral orations, family chronicles, and poetry. The 
earliest historian was Fabius Pictor, a Roman senator 
during the war with Hannibal. He wrote in Greek a Latter part 
history of his country from the earliest times to his own tury B.C. 
day. As he grouped events by years, his work is called 

313 



314 Introduction to the Sources 



Ancient 
World, 405 f . 



P. 73- 



Historians. 



Caesar, 
100-44 B.C. 



Ancient 
World, 445. 



Sallust. 



Annals. After him followed a long succession of annalists, 
who wrote either in Greek or in Latin. The first Roman 
to adopt the native tongue for historical use was Cato the 
Censor; it is chiefly for this reason that he is considered 
the founder of Latin prose literature. "He tells us that 
he himself wrote books on history with his own hand in 
large letters that his boy might start in life with a useful 
knowledge of what his forefathers had done." Cato and 
other public men of his time wrote their political and 
judicial speeches, thus creating in literature the depart- 
ment of oratory. Not long after Cato lived Polybius, the 
ablest writer of Roman history. His work has been men- 
tioned in an earlier chapter. 

The period of the annalists, closing about 80 B.C., was 
followed by that of the historians. 

First in order let us consider Gaius Julius Caesar. While 
in war and in statesmanship his achievements place him 
among the foremost men of the world, his literary genius 
is scarcely less remarkable. In his writings he shows a 
faultless taste and a clear, direct, masterful style. His 
Commentaries on the Gallic War and On the Civil War are 
a plain but forceful narrative of his wonderful campaigns. 
The primary object of these works was to justify his wars 
and his political policy. 

Somewhat later Sallust wrote a monograph On the Con- 
spiracy of Catiline and another On the Jugurthine War. 
Along with his narrative of events, he tried impartially to 
analyze the character of society and the motives of con- 
duct. These works we still have, but most of his History, 
in which he described the events following Sulla's death, 
has been lost. Caesar and Sallust were the chief historians 
of their age. Though each noble family recorded the deeds 
of illustrious ancestors, no national interest in biography 



The Age of Cicero 315 

arose till the closing years of the republic, when the great 
men of Rome began to attract all eyes. At this time lived Nepos. 
Cornelius Nepos, mentioned above among the sources for 
Greek history. The same chapter speaks of his Greek P. 73 f- 
contemporary, Diodorus, whose Historical Library treats 
of both Greek and Roman affairs. 

In this age Roman oratory reached the height of its Marcus Tul- 

. . lius Cicero, 

development in Marcus Tullius Cicero. As Caesar em- 106-43 B.C. 
bodied imperialism, Cicero represented the better spirit 
of the republic. As a statesman he cherished high ideals 
of republican freedom; as a citizen he was intensely patri- Rome, 182; 
otic; and his private character was worthy and amiable. World, 445 f. 
His achievement was to bring the prose of his country to 
formal perfection, — to make Latin a great classical lan- 
guage. This result he accomplished by developing, refin- 
ing, and enriching his mother tongue not only in oratory 
but in nearly every style of prose from philosophy to fa- 
miliar correspondence. It is chiefly owing to his creative 
genius that Latin has been the universal language of learn- 
ing and culture from his time almost to the present day. 
If in reading his Orations we make allowance for their 
rhetorical coloring and their political bias, we shall find 
them valuable for the study of the age. More trustworthy 
are his Letters to friends, in which he speaks candidly of 
passing events. 

As the temperament of the Romans was realistic and Lucretius, 
practical, they met with little success in imaginative liter- 
ature. Lucretius, a poet of the Ciceronian age, composed 
in verse a work On the Nature of the World, in which he 
tried by means of science to dispel from the mind all 
fear of death and of the gods, — to free men from super- 
stition. Notwithstanding the scientific details in which 
the poem abounds, it is a work of genius. Catullus, a Catullus. 



316 



Introduction to the Sources 



The Au- 
gustan Age, 
31 B.C.-14 
A.D. 



Livy. 



Books i-x 
and xxi-xlv, 
with mere 
summaries 
of the re- 
maining 
books, have 
alone come 
down to us, 
and are our 
chief source 
for the earlier 
periods. 



Dionysius of 
Halicarnas- 



brilliant poet of the same age, wrote beautiful lyrics on 
subjects of love and life, and some bitter lampoons. 

The principate of Augustus is considered the golden 
age of Roman literature. A most interesting and valu- 
able document from this period is Augustus' own account 
of his administration preserved in an inscription. Scholars 
term it the Monumentum Ancyranum because it was 
found on a temple in Ancyra, Asia Minor, though we may 
designate it simply as his Deeds. The most eminent 
author of prose in this age was Livy, who wrote a History 
of Rome in a hundred and forty-two books. The military 
and personal details in the early books are largely mythi- 
cal; yet even in this part the author expresses vividly and 
accurately the character of Rome and of her citizens and 
institutions. From the time of the Punic Wars, the details 
of every kind are in a high degree trustworthy. 

Though in his conception of the aim and method of his- 
tory he was far inferior to Polybius, whom he had read, he 
loved what he supposed to be the truth and the right. 
His sympathies were intensely republican; but he con- 
sented to work for Augustus. His love of law and order, 
his hatred of violence and vulgarity, served the interests 
of his patron, while the vast compass and the stately 
style of his history, like the splendid public works of 
the age, helped make the imperial government mag- 
nificent. 

While Livy was writing his great work, Dionysius of 
Halicarnassus was compiling a detailed history of Rome 
from the earliest times to the beginning of the Punic Wars. 
As an historian he is on the whole inferior to Livy; and 
yet his work is a valuable source for the life and institu- 
tions of early Rome. 

Strabo the geographer, who wrote under Augustus and 



The Augustan Age 317 

Tiberius, has been mentioned in the chapter which treats P. 74- 
of the sources for Greek history. 

In the same age Vergil, Rome's most splendid poet, Vergil, 
wrote an epic poem, the ^Eneid. In this story of the 
wanderings of /Eneas he glorifies the beginnings of Rome Rome, 17, 
and, at the same time, the imperial family, which claimed World, 461. 
descent from the hero of his poem. 

Horace, author of Odes and Satires and Epistles in Horace, 
verse, was the poet of contentment and common sense, Ancient 
who bade his friends— World ' 46j ' 

Snatch gayly the joys which the moment shall bring, 
And away every care and perplexity fling. 

Leave the future to the gods, he taught. A comfortable 
villa, some shady nook in summer, and in winter a roar- 
ing fireplace, good wine, pleasant friends, and a mind 
free from care make an ideal life. After the stormy end 
of the republic, the world needed such a lesson; and 
though he remained independent in spirit, Horace quietly 
served his prince. His work abounds in references to 
manners, customs, and events, and hence is valuable for 
an understanding of the age. 

In the same age lived Ovid, the polished poet of the Ovid. 
gay, immoral circle which surrounded Julia, granddaughter 
of Augustus. To the student of history his most valuable 
work is the Fasti, a metrical calendar containing much 
curious information regarding Roman religion. 

Under Tiberius the republican reaction against the Velleius Pa- 
principate was at its height; the time was therefore so 
unfavorable to literary work, that this administration 
produced no writers of talent or especial merit. Velleius 
Paterculus, who had served Tiberius as a military officer, 
wrote a short History of Rome to the year 30 A.D. The 
earlier period he treats briefly, his own age with greater 



3i8 



Introduction to the Sources 



Seneca. 

A ncient 
World, 467. 



Petronius. 



Pliny the 
Elder. 



Josephus. 

Ancient 
World, 46. 



The Age of 
the Goodj 
Emperors, 
96-180 A.D. 

Tacitus, 

about 55-1 2c 
A.D. 

Ancient 
World, 493. 



fulness. Wordy and pompous, he is nevertheless fairly 
accurate in his statement of facts; and for the principate 
of Tiberius he enjoys the advantage of being our only 
contemporary source. Undoubtedly sincere in his ad- 
miration of the emperor, he overflows with eulogy, like a 
partisan rather than a calm-tempered historian. 

The progress of the Romans in morality and kindliness 
under the early princes is well represented by Seneca. A 
Spaniard by birth, a Stoic, and a rhetorician, he became 
the tutor and afterward the prime minister of Nero. His 
essays on moral and philosophic subjects are mostly 
presented in the form of Letters and Dialogues. With 
Seneca we may contrast Petronius, "Master of Pleas- 
ures," at the court of Nero. He wrote a character novel 
in perhaps twenty books, of which we have mere frag- 
ments. The most important is the Dinner of Trimalchio, 
a satire on a coarse, uneducated freedman who had sud- 
denly grown rich. It is of great value for social life. 
Under Vespasian Pliny the Elder wrote a Natural History 
in thirty-seven books. In addition to the natural sciences, 
it includes geography, medicine, and art. An encyclo- 
paedia compiled from two thousand different works, it is 
a great storehouse of knowledge. Not long afterward 
Josephus, a Hebrew writer, composed two important 
historical works, Jewish Antiquities and The Jewish War. 

The sufferings of republicanism under Domitian, fol- 
lowed by the happy reigns of Nerva and Trajan, produced 
the last great writers of classic Latin, Tacitus and Juvenal. 
One wrote history, the other satire, yet with a kindred 
spirit. The Annals and the Histories x of Tacitus covered 

1 Of the Annals we have bks. i-iv, parts of v and vi, and xi-xvi, with 
gaps at the beginning and end of the last group of books; of the 
Histories there remain bks. i-iv and the first half of v. 



Tacitus and Juvenal 319 

the period from the death of Augustus to the death of 
Domitian. Besides these larger works he wrote a mono- 
graph on the Life and Character of Agricola> the conqueror 
of Britain, and another, the Germania, on the character 
and institutions of the Germans of his time. His experi- 
ence as an army officer and a statesman gave him a clear 
understanding of military and political events. He was 
conscientious, too, and though he made little use of docu- 
ments as sources, we may trust his statement of all facts 
which could be known to the public. His style is ex- 
ceedingly rapid, vivid, and energetic. His excellencies 
as an historian, however, are balanced by serious defects. 
Though he owed his seat in the senate to Domitian, he 
belonged to the strictest circle of aristocrats, who were 
dissatisfied with the principate though they had nothing 
better to propose. Hatred of the " tyrants " from Tiberius 
to Domitian, and the bitterness he felt because of his 
party's failure, supplied him with inspiration for his 
gloomy narrative. To most critics his chief merit lies in 
his dramatic portrayal of character; but his prejudice led 
him unconsciously to invent bad motives even for the best 
acts of the emperors, especially of Tiberius. His charac- 
ters, however vivid and self-consistent, are the product of 
his gloomy, bitter imagination. Valuable as his w r ork is to 
one who can distinguish between fact and fancy, it is as 
much satire as history. 

Like the historian, Juvenal, author of Satires, was power- Juvenal, 
ful and dramatic. With the inspiration of wrath and in * 4 ° \ D ° 
the spirit of Tacitus, he looked back to the society of Rome 
under Nero and Domitian to find in it nothing but hideous f v n ^ lt 
vice. The pictures drawn by the historian are grand and 
fascinating; those of the satirist repel us by their ugliness; 
the works of both masters are unreal. 



320 



Introduction to trie Sources 



Pliny the 
Younger. 



Suetonius, 
about 75- 
160 A.D. 



Aulus 

Gellius, 
born about 
130 A.D. 



Revival of 

Hellenic 

literature. 

Dio Chrysos- 
tom, about 
40 to after 
H2 A.D. 

Plutarch, 
p. 74. 

Epictetus, 
about 50-120. 



When Rome renounced the republic, so far as to con- 
sider her emperors good, she lost her motive for literary 
art. Her writers became shallow and insipid, without 
thought or imagination, who could only repeat what they 
had read. The best of this class was Pliny the Younger, 
an orator, and for a time governor of Bithynia. One of 
his speeches, a eulogy on Trajan, which has come down 
to us, is an example of the tiresome, feeble style of the 
day. His Letters, polished yet trivial, are valuable for the 
study of the social life and literary activities of his time. 
The principate of Hadrian is represented in literature by 
Suetonius, for a time the emperor's secretary. In his 
Lives of the Ccesars he arranges his material topically, with 
little reference to chronological order. Though accurate 
in his presentation of political matters, generally too of 
personal details, he has marred his writings by the in- 
troduction of a great amount of unfounded gossip and 
calumny against the princes and their families. He was a 
compiler without literary talent. The same is true of a 
younger contemporary, Aulus Gellius, whose Attic Nights 
is a storehouse of literary, religious, political and legal 
antiquities. The title is due to the circumstance that 
the compilation of the work occupied the author's even- 
ings during a winter spent in Athens. 

A revival of Hellenic literature in the second century 
A.D. produced some authors of unusual merit. The 
literary activity of Dio Chrysostom, a rhetorician and 
moralist, extends from Vespasian to Trajan. Among his 
Orations are some which treat interestingly of morals and 
of political and social conditions in Greece. About the 
same time Plutarch wrote his Lives, referred to in the 
chapter on Greek sources. In the same generation with 
Plutarch lived Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, who taught 



Second and Third Centuries A.D. 321 

the brotherhood of man and the loving goodness of God 
the all-wise Father. His Discourses were written down 
by a pupil, Arrian, whose Anabasis of Alexander has al- P. 75 
ready been mentioned. In Arrian's generation Appian of 
Alexandria wrote a narrative History of Rome. It is true Appian, 
that he was uncritical, yet we find much valuable in- i 75 u 
formation in the parts of his work which are still extant. 
Somewhat later Marcus Aurelius composed in Greek his Marcus 
Meditations, philosophic thoughts written down by the 1 21-180.' 
Stoic emperor without order, just as they occurred to him. 
To the period following his reign belongs the active life of 
Dio Cassius of Bithynia. Although a Greek, he became Dio Cassius, 
a Roman senator and held various important administra- 240. 
tive offices. This experience in practical affairs was of the 
greatest value to him as a historian. He composed in 
Greek a History of Rome in eighty books, extending from 
the earliest times to 229 A.D. The work shows remark- 
able insight and judgment. We have books xxxvi-lx en- 
tire, with fragments and an abridgment of the rest. The 
period following Marcus Aurelius, 180-228 A.D., repre- 
sented by fragments of Dio Cassius, is covered in the 
History of the Empire Since Marcus Aurelius by Herodian, Herodian, 
a Greek who lived somewhat later. 255. 

Several minor sources deserve briefer mention. Florus, Minor 
whose time and country are unknown, composed in a 
highly rhetorical style an Epitome of Roman History from 
the founding of the city to the beginning of the empire. 
At the request of Valens, Eutropius wrote a dry Com- 
pendium of Roman History to the accession of his patron — 
364 A.D. Aurelius Victor, who lived in the fourth cen- 
tury A.D., is said to have composed the Origin of the 
Roman Nation; On the Illustrious Men of the City of Rome; 
The Caesars, brief biographies of the emperors from 



sources. 



322 



Introduction to the Sources 



Ammianus 
Marcellinus, 
about 330- 
401 A.D. 



Res Gestae. 



Macrobius. 



Christian 
Writers. 



Lactantius, 
about 260- 
330 A.D. 



Augustus to Constantius; Life and Character of the Roman 
Emperors, from Augustus to Theodosius. It is probable, 
however, that all these works are not by the same hand. 
The six authors of the Augustan History — the lives of the 
emperors from Hadrian to Numerianus, 117-284 A.D. — 
wrote under Diocletian and Constantine, and dedicated 
their biographies to the one or the other of these em- 
perors. Spartianus was the author of the life of Hadrian; 
and Capitolinus of the lives of Antoninus Pius and Marcus 
Aurelius. This work, however devoid of literary merit, is 
a highly important source. 

An author of incomparably greater historical insight 
and judgment was Ammianus Marcellinus, a Greek of 
Antioch, Syria. Born in the reign of Constantine, he en- 
tered the army at an early age and attained to high com- 
mands in a long and honorable career. Late in life he 
wrote in Latin a history of the emperors' Achievements 
from Nerva to Valens in thirty-one books. There remain 
only books XIV-XXXI. His attention to personal and 
racial character, customs and social conditions makes his 
work unusually interesting and instructive. He was the 
last distinguished historian of Rome. Approximately to 
the date of his death belongs the Saturnalia of Macrobius, 
a dialogue of learned men on literary questions, religion, 
and various customs of earlier Rome. This work should 
be classed with the Attic Nights of Gellius. 

Among the Christian writers of ancient times the first 
in order are the authors of the books of the New Testa- 
ment. Then follow a succession of "Christian Fathers," 
who interpreted and expanded the doctrines of the Church. 
Of this class the earliest author represented in the present 
volume is Lactantius, a contemporary of Diocletian and 
Constantine. A rhetorician of fine literary taste, he was 



Fourth and Fifth Centuries A.D. 323 

converted to Christianity probably in the last persecu- 
tion. Among his numerous writings the sketch entitled 
On the Marnier in which the Persecutors died is of chief 
interest to students of history. A doubt once raised as to 
its authenticity seems to be groundless. To the same 
generation belongs Eusebius, bishop of Cesarea, an inti- Eusebius 
mate friend and ardent admirer of Constantine. He 
was a zealous Christian and a learned, prolific writer. 
His Ecclesiastical History in ten books narrates in detail 
the rise of Christianity and its relation to the empire. 

A later age is represented by St. Jerome. He was a St. Jerome, 
man of native ability and broad deep learning, whose a 4 d. 42 ° 
ascetic temperament led him to pass five years in solitary 
life among the hermits of the Syrian desert. He is es- 
pecially celebrated for his translation of the Scriptures 
into Latin. This version is known as the Vulgate. He 
was chiefly instrumental, too, in introducing monastic life 
into the West. His Letters are a storehouse of informa- 
tion on all aspects of social life of his age. Even more 
distinguished is his younger contemporary, St. Augustine, St. Augus- 
whose Confessions gives an account of his own life, and ™q'a.b~ 
incidentally throws light on the times in which he lived. 
A philosopher and teacher of rhetoric, he was converted 
to Christianity, and baptized in his thirty-third year. 
Thenceforth he was a most zealous supporter of the faith. 
His various writings, filling sixteen large volumes, have 
contributed more than the works of any other man to the 
final shaping of Catholic Christianity. Along with his 
Confessions the work of greatest interest to the general 
student of history is his City of God. A leading object of 
this book is to refute the charge of the pagans that the 
misfortunes of Rome were due to Christianity. He 
demonstrates accordingly the infinite superiority of his 



324 



Introduction to the Sources 



Salvianus. 



De guberna- 
tione Dei. 



Eginhard. 



Inscriptions 
and build- 
ings. 



God in goodness and protecting power to the countless 
deities of pagan Rome. A still later author is Salvianus, 
presbyter of Marseilles, who lived nearly through the 
fifth century — through the confusion and violence of the 
barbarian invasions. In his Providence of God he explains 
the misfortunes of the times as divine punishments of the 
wealthy, governing class for their immorality, greed, and 
oppression. His fiery zeal leads him to exaggerate the 
miseries and the vices of his age. These defenders of the 
faith are merely representative of a host of Christian 
Fathers. 

Quite distinct is the last author of this volume, Egin- 
hard, secretary and private chaplain of Charlemagne. 
His Life of the Emperor Karl the Great, a simple trust- 
worthy Latin narrative, is the only piece of historical 
writing of the period in which it falls. 

Inscriptions, too, form an exceedingly valuable source. 
Almost wholly wanting in the regal period and early 
republic, they grow abundant toward the end of the re- 
publican period; and for the administration of the empire 
they furnish the most precious information. For a full 
and accurate appreciation of Roman history, the public 
works should also be studied. 



AUTHORS AND DOCUMENTS 

Ammianus Marcellinus, translated by C. D. Yonge. Macmillan. 

Appian, Roman History, translated by White. 2 vols. Macmillan. 

Augustan History, by Capitolinus, Spartianus, etc. Selections trans- 
lated by the editors. 

Augustine, St., Confessions, translated by W. Montgomery. Cam- 
bridge: University Press. City of God, translated by J. Healey. 
3 vols. London: Dent. 

Augustus, Deeds ("Monumentum Ancyranum"), translated by 
Fairley, in "Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources 
of European History," V. University of Pennsylvania. 



Authors and Documents 325 

Aurelius Antoninus, Marcus, Meditations, translated by Long. New 

York: A. L. Burt Company. 
Aurelius Victor, The Ccesars. Selection translated by Miss Rachel 

R. Hiller. 
Caesar, Commentaries, translated by W. A. McDevitte. Macmillan. 

Revised by the editors. 
Cato, On Agriculture, translated by Dr. E. H. Oliver. 
Catullus, Poems, translated (Bohn). Macmillan. 
Cicero, Orations, translated by C. D. Yonge. Macmillan. Republic, 

edited and translated by Hardingham. London: Quaritch. 
Dio Cassius, Roman History, translated by H. B. Foster. 6 vols. 

Troy, N. Y.: Pafraets. 
Dio Chrysostom, Orations. Selections translated by the editors. 
Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, translated by Booth. London. 

1 8 14. (Out of print.) Revised by the editors. 
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, translated by Spel- 

man. London. 1758. (Out of print.) Revised by the editors. 
Eginhard, Life of the Emperor Karl the Great, translated by W. Glais- 

ter. London: Bell. 
Epictetus, Discourses, translated by George Long. Macmillan. 
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fath- 
ers," I. 
Gellius, Aulus, Attic Nights, translated by Beloe. (Out of print.) 

Revised by Dr. E. G. Sihler. 
Herodian, History. Selection translated by the editors. 
Horace, Works, translated by Martin. 2 vols. Scribners. 
Inscriptions, Latin, translated by the editors, unless otherwise stated. 
Jerome, St., Letters, in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers," VI. 
Josephus, Works, translated by W. Whiston, revised by Shilleto. 

5 vols. Macmillan. 
Justin, Nepos, and Eutropius, translated (Bohn). Macmillan. 
Juvenal, Satires (D. Iunii Iuvenalis Satirce) with a Literal English 

Prose Translation and Notes by Lewis. Macmillan. 
Koran. Selections from the Kur-dn, edited by Stanley Lane-Poole. 

London, 1879. 
Lactantius, On the Manner in which the Persecutors died, in "Ante- 

Nicene Fathers," VII. 
Livy, History of Rome, translated by Spillan. 4 vols. Macmillan. 

Revised by the editors. 



326 Italy and her People 

Lucretius, On the Nature of the World (T. Lucre ti Cari, de Rerum 
Natura libri sex) translated by Munro. London: Bell. 

New Testament, The. 

Ovid, Fasti, translated (Bohn). Macmillan. 

Papyri. See p. 76. 

Petronius, Banquet of Trimalchio, translated by H. T. Peck. Dodd, 
Mead and Co. 

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, translated. 6 vols. (Bohn) Mac- 
millan. 

Pliny, Letters, translated by Church and Brodribb. Philadelphia: 
Lippincott. 

Plutarch, Lives, translated by Stewart and Long. 4 vols. Mac- 
millan. 

Polybius, Histories, translated by Shuckburgh. 2 vols. Macmillan. 

Sallust, Florus, and Velleius Paterculus, translated (Bohn). Mac- 
millan. 

Salvianus, Providence of God. Selection translated by the editors. 

Strabo, Geography, translated by Hamilton and Falconer. Revised 
by the editors. 

Suetonius, Lives of the Ccesars, translated by Thomas, revised by 
Forester. Macmillan. 

Tacitus, Annals, translated by Church and Brodribb. Macmillan. 
Germania, translated by W. H. Fyfe. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

Theodosian Code. Selection translated by Dr. E. G. Sihler. 

Vergil, Mneid, translated by Crane (verse) . New York : Baker, Taylor. 

B. ITALY AND HER PEOPLE 
I. The Po Valley 

The form of Italy as a whole is a triangle, of which the eastern side 
is bounded by the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Gulf, the 

Polybms n. sou thern and western sides by the Sicilian and Tyrrhenian 
(or Tuscan) seas. These two sides converge to form the 
apex of the triangle. . . . The third side, or base, of this 
triangle is on the north, and is formed by the chain of the 
Alps, which stretches across the country from Marseilles 
and the Sardinian Sea, with no break, nearly to the head 
of the Adriatic Sea. 






Northern Italy 327 

To the south of this range, which I said we must re- The valley 
, , r , . , , , , of the Po. 

gard as the base of the triangle, are the most northerly 

plains of Italy, the largest and most fertile, so far as I 

know, in all Europe. This is the district with which we 

are at present concerned. 

It is a superb plain variegated with fruitful hills. The Strabo v. 1. 
Po divides it almost through the midst; one side is called 
Cispadana, and the other Transpadana. Cispadana in- 
cludes the part next to the Apennines, together with Li- 
guria; and Transpadana includes the remainder. The 
Ligurians of the mountains and the Celts of the plain (Or Gauls.) 
occupy Cispadana; the Celts and the Venetians inhabit 
the other division. 

The fertility of the Po valley is proved by its population, The prod- 
the size of the cities, and its wealth; in all these respects 
the Romans of this country surpass the rest of Italy. The Strabo v. 
cultivated land produces fruits in abundance and of every 
kind, and the woods contain so great a quantity of mast 
that Rome is supplied chiefly from the swine fed there. 
As it is well watered, it produces millet to perfection. This 
condition affords the greatest security against famine, as 
millet resists every severity of climate, and never fails 
even when other grains are scarce. The pitch works are 
amazing, and the casks prove the abundance of wine; for 
the casks, formed of wood, are larger than houses, and 
the great supply of pitch makes them inexpensive. 

The soft wood, which is by far the best, is produced in 
the country round Mutina (modern Modena) and the 
Scultanna River. The coarse wool, on the other hand, 
which forms the main article of clothing among the Italian 
slaves, is grown in Liguria and the country of the Symbri. 
A medium kind, grown about Patavium (modern Padua), 
is used for the finer carpets, cassocks, and everything else 



12. 



328 



Italy and her People 



The people. 

Polybius ii. 

17- 

(Phlegraean, 
"Volcanic," 
from the fact 
that the soil 
contained 
much 
volcanic 
matter.) 



Their power. 



Diodorus v. 
40. 



Their learn- 
ing.- 

(To the time 
of Diodorus; 
P- 73.) 



of the same sort with the wool on one or both sides. The 
mines are not now worked so diligently, because they are not 
equally profitable with those of Transalpine Gaul and Iberia. 

II. The Etruscans 

These plains (of the Po) were anciently inhabited by the 
Etruscans, who at the same time occupied the Phlegraean 
plains round Capua and Nola; the two places last men- 
tioned have been most celebrated, because they were 
visited by many people, and so became known. In speak- 
ing then of the Etruscan empire, we should not refer to the 
district occupied by the Etruscans, at the present time, 
but to these northern plains, and to what they did when 
they lived there. 

In ancient times they were valiant, and enjoyed a large 
country, and built many famous cities. With their great 
navy they were masters of the sea which washes the west 
coast of Italy, and which they called Tyrrhenian (or 
Tuscan), after their own name. As one of their military 
equipments they had invented a most useful instrument 
of war, — the trumpet, which from them is called Tyrrhena. 
To the generals of their army they gave as badges of honor 
an ivory throne and a purple robe. They invented porti- 
coes for their houses, to avoid the trouble and noise of a 
crowd of servants, and other hangers-on. Introducing 
these customs into their commonwealth, the Romans 
greatly improved them. 

The Etruscans gave themselves up to learning, especially 
to the study of nature. In these researches they were 
especially anxious to discover the meaning of thunder and 
lightning. To this day, therefore, they are admired by 
princes the world over, who employ their soothsayers in 
interpreting the supernatural effects of thunder. 



Central and Southern Italy 329 

They enjoy a very rich country, well tilled and im- Their lux- 
proved; and so reap abundance of all sorts of fruits, not 
only for necessary food but for pleasure and delight. 

They have their tables spread twice a day, furnished 
with every variety of food, even to luxury and excess. 

Their carpets are interwoven with flower designs, and 
they use a great many silver cups of many forms. Of 
household servants they have a large number, some very 
beautiful, others rich in apparel, above the condition of 
servants. Slaves and freedmen alike have several apart- 
ments allowed them, completely furnished and adorned. 

Finally the Etruscans threw off their primitive sobriety, 
and now live an idle, profligate life in riot and drunken- 
ness. There is no wonder then that they have lost the 
honor and reputation their fathers gained through warlike 
achievemen. 

III. Latium and Campania 

The whole of Latium is fertile, and abounds in every Latium. 
product; we should except a few districts along the coast, strabov. 3.5 
which are marshy and unhealthful. . . . Some parts 
also may be too mountainous; yet even these regions are 
not absolutely idle and useless, for they furnish abundant 
pasturage, wood, and the peculiar products of marsh and 
rock. For instance, Caecubum, wholly a marsh, nourishes 
a vine, which produces excellent wine. 

One of the maritime cities of Latium is Ostia. It has Ostia. 
no port because of the accumulation of silt brought down 
by the Tiber, which is swelled by many rivers. Vessels 
therefore come to anchor further out, and yet with some 
danger. Gain, however, overcomes everything; for there 
are many lighters in readiness to freight and unfreight the 
larger ships before they approach the mouth of the river, 



330 



Italy and her People 



(A stadium 
is about 600 
feet.) 

Campania. 

Strabo v. 4. 3. 



Polybius iii. 
91. 



The text is 
uncertain. 

Strabo v. 4. 3. 



to enable them to finish their voyage speedily. Lightened 
of a part of their cargo, they enter the river and sail up to 
Rome, a distance of a hundred and ninety stadia. Such 
is the city of Ostia founded by Ancus Marcius. 

Next in order after Latium is Campania, which extends 
along the Tuscan Sea. . . . This plain is fertile above 
all others, and is entirely surrounded by fruitful hills and 
the Samnite and Oscan mountains. 

The plains about Capua are the best in Italy for fertility 
and beauty and nearness to the sea, and for the harbors, 
into which run the merchants who are sailing to Italy from 
all parts of the world. They contain, too, the most famous 
and beautiful cities of Italy. ... In the centre of these 
plains lies the richest of all the cities, — Capua. No tale 
in all mythology wears a greater appearance of probability 
than that which is told of these lowlands, which like others 
of remarkable beauty are called the Phlegraean plains; for 
surely none are more likely for beauty and fertility to have 
been contended for by the gods. 

In addition to these advantages, they are strongly 
sheltered by nature and difficult of approach; for one 
side is protected by the sea, and the rest by a long high 
chain of mountains, through which lead but three passes 
from the interior, all narrow and difficult, — one from 
Samnium (a second from Latium), and a third from Hir- 
pini. 

One proof of the fertility of this country is that it pro- 
duces the finest corn. I refer to the grain from which a 
groat is made superior to all kinds of rice, and to almost 
all other farinaceous food. They say that some of the 
plains are bearing crops all the year round, — two crops 
of rye, a third of panic, and sometimes a fourth of vege- 
tables. From there, too, the Romans procure their finest 



The City of Rome 331 

wines. . . . Furthermore, the whole country round Vena- 
f rum, and bordering the plains, is rich in olives. 

IV. Rome 

In the interior the first city above Ostia is Rome — the Situation, 
only city built on the Tiber. Its position was fixed by Strabov.3.7. 
necessity rather than choice. We may add that those who 
afterward enlarged it were not at liberty to select a better 
site, as they were prevented by what was already built. . . . 
It seems to me that the first founders were of the opinion, 
in regard to themselves and their successors, that the 
Romans had to depend not on fortifications but on arms 
and valor, for safety and wealth, and that walls were not a 
defence to men, but men were a defence to walls. At the 
time of its founding, when the large and fertile districts 
about the city belonged to others, and while it lay easily 
open to assault, there was nothing in its position which 
could be looked upon as favorable; but when by valor and 
labor these districts became its own, there succeeded a 
tide of prosperity which surpassed the advantages of every 
other place. 

Notwithstanding the prodigious increase of the city, Buildings, 
there has been plenty of food, and of wood and stone for 
ceaseless building, made necessary by the falling down of 
houses, by fires, and by sales, which seem never to cease. 
These sales are a kind of voluntary destruction of houses; 
each owner tears down and rebuilds one part or another 
according to his own taste. For these purposes the many 
quarries, the forests, and the rivers which convey the 
materials, offer wonderful facilities. . . . 

To avert from the city damages of the kind referred to, 
Augustus Caesar instituted a company of freedmen to lend 
assistance at fires; and to prevent the falling of houses, 



332 



Italy and her People 



he decreed that new buildings should not be carried so 
high as formerly, and that those erected along the public 
streets should not exceed seventy feet in height. These 
improvements must have ceased, had it not been for the 
facilities afforded by the quarries, the forests, and the ease 
of transportation. 

Greatness. Rome is now mistress of every accessible country; 
every sea owns her power. She is the first and only state 
recorded in history which ever made the East and West the 
boundaries of her empire. And her dominion has not been 

Dionysiusi.3. of short duration, but more lasting than that of any other 
commonwealth or kingdom. For after the city had been 
founded, she conquered many warlike nations, her neigh- 
bors, and still advanced, overcoming all opposition. . . . 
By the conquest of all Italy, she was emboldened to pro- 
ceed even to universal empire; and having driven the 
Carthaginians from off the sea, whose maritime strength 
was superior to all others, she subdued Macedon, the most 
powerful nation by land till that time; and as no enemy 
was left either among the Greeks or the barbarians, she is 
mistress of the whole world. . . . There is no nation that 
claims a share in her universal power, or refuses obedience 
to it. But I need say no more to prove that I have not 
made choice of a petty subject, or proposed to relate triv- 
ial or obscure actions, but have undertaken the history of 
the most illustrious state and of the most brilliant achieve- 
ments that can possibly be treated. 

STUDIES 

1. Describe the products of the Po Valley. What was its value to 
Rome? 

2. Who were the Etruscans? Give an account of their civiliza- 
tion. 



Studies 333 



3. How does Latium compare with Etruria? Is it more or less 
fertile than Campania? 

4. Describe the situation of Rome. What is said of her build- 
ings? What came to be her political position? Name the authors 
of the selections I-IV and state when each lived and what he 
wrote. 



CHAPTER XXIX 



The found- 
ing of Rome. 

Dionysius i. 



The Romans 
founded 
their colonies 
in this way, 
and there- 
fore believed 
their own 
city to have 
been thus 
founded. In 
fact all their 
fundamental 
institutions, 
religious, 
social, and 
political, 
they uncriti- 
cally assigned 
to their 
kings as 
founders. 



The tribes 
and the 
curia. 



ROME UNDER THE KINGS 

I. Romulus 

When everything was performed which he conceived to 
be acceptable to the gods, he called all the people to a place 
appointed, and described a quadrangular figure about 
the hill, tracing with a plow drawn by a bull and a 
cow yoked together, one continuous furrow, designed to 
receive the foundation of the wall; hence this custom re- 
mains among the Romans of tracing a furrow with a plow 
round the place where they design to build the city. After 
he had finished these things and sacrificed the bull and the 
cow, and also having performed the initial gift of many 
other sacrifices, he set the people to work. This day the 
Romans even at present celebrate every year as one of 
their greatest festivals, and call it Parilia (April 21). On 
that day, which falls in the beginning of the spring, the 
husbandmen and shepherds offer up a sacrifice of thanks- 
giving for the increase of their cattle. But I cannot cer- 
tainly say whether they anciently chose this day as one of 
public rejoicing; and for that reason looked upon it as the 
most fitting for the building of the city; or, whether the 
building of it having been begun on that day, they con- 
secrated it, and dedicated it to the worship of those gods 
who are propitious to shepherds. 

Appointed king, Romulus proved himself brave and 
skilful in war and wise in the adoption of a most excellent 

334 



Patricians, Plebeians and Clients 335 

form of government. He divided the whole population pionysius 
into three parts, each of which he placed under the com- "abridged), 
mand of a distinguished person. Then dividing these parts 
into ten companies, he appointed the bravest men to be 
their leaders. The larger divisions he called tribes, and the 
smaller curia. The leaders of the tribes were tribunes; 
those of the curias were curiones. 

Another division of the population he made on the prin- The social 
ciple of honor and worth. Those who, illustrious by birth 
and commended for their virtue, were well-to-do and had 
children, he separated from the ignoble and base and needy. 
Those of inferior fortune he called plebeians; the better Ancient 
class he named patres (fathers) because they were older or ,33 ° ' 
than the rest, or because they had children, or on account 
of their illustrious birth, or for all these reasons. Their 
descendants were called patricians. Whenever the king 
wished to bring the patricians together, his heralds used 
to summon them by their own name and that of the father; 
but the common people were called to the assembly by 
servants, who went about trumpeting on ox-horns. 

After Romulus had distinguished the nobles from the 
commons, he passed laws to regulate the duties of each 
rank. The nobles were to be priests, magistrates, and 
judges, and were to help him manage the affairs of the 
city. The commons he excused from this business, for 
they had neither experience in such matters nor leisure to 
attend to them. They were to farm, to rear cattle, and to 
carry on the money-making industries, that they might 
have no time for party strife, such as we find in other 
cities, where those in office abuse the lower classes, and the 
base and needy envy the richer citizens. 

Placing the plebeians as a trust in the hands of the The patrons 
patricians, he permitted each commoner to choose as clients. 



33& 



Rome Under the Kings 



(Dionysius 
is probably 
wrong in as- 
suming that 
all plebeians 
became 
clients.) 



(We infer 
that the 
clients had 
a right to 
vote.) 

The senate 
and the 
assembly 

Ancient 
World, 332. 

(The comitia 
curiata.) 



The liber- 
ality of Rome 
toward 
strangers. 

Dionysius ii. 
16. 



patron the noble whom he wished. The patrons were to 
explain the laws to their clients, who were ignorant of such 
matters, and to watch over their business affairs as a father 
does for his children, to sue for them when they were un- 
justly treated, and to defend them when sued. The clients 
were to contribute to the dowry of their patron's daughters, 
to furnish the ransom in case the patron or his son should 
be taken captive, to pay their lord's fines, and to bear 
part of the expenses of the offices he held, that he might 
perform his public duties with becoming dignity. It was 
impious for patron and client to accuse each other or to 
testify or vote against each other. 

After making these arrangements, Romulus resolved to 
appoint councillors who were to help him manage the gov- 
ernment. For this purpose he selected a hundred men from 
the patricians, and called this council the senate. He 
made also an assembly of commons, to which he granted 
three powers, — the election of magistrates, the ratification 
of laws, and the decision of questions of war and peace. 
The resolutions of the assembly, however, had no force 
unless the senate approved them. 

The most effective of all the arrangements of Romulus — 
the one which did most not only to maintain the freedom 
of Rome, but also to win for her the supremacy over other 
states — was the law which bade the Romans not to mas- 
sacre or enslave conquered peoples or to lay waste their 
land, but to settle part of the conquered territory with 
Roman citizens, to found colonies in some conquered 
towns, and to give others the Roman citizenship. The 
kings who followed him, and still later the annual magis- 
trates (consuls), earned out his liberal policy to such an 
extent that in time the Roman nation came to excel all 
others in population. 



Institutions of Romulus 337 

Romulus sent a colony of three hundred men into each Roman coio- 

, ... r 1 • i 1 1 mes; admis- 

city, to whom these gave a third part of their lands to be sion of 

divided among them by lot; and these Caeninenses and citizenship. 

Antemnates, who desired to remove to Rome, he conveyed Dionysius ii. 

thither together with their wives and children, they re- 3S * 

taining the possession of their lands, and bringing with 

them all their effects. These, who were not less than three 

thousand, the king immediately incorporated with the 

tribes and the curiae: so that the Romans had then for 

the first time six thousand foot in all upon the register. 

Thus Caenina and Antemna, no inconsiderable cities . . . 

after this war became Roman colonies. 

The care of religion he intrusted to many persons. In Religion, 
no other newly built city could be found so many priests Dionysius ii. 
and attendants of the gods. . . . Each curia elected two 
men above fifty years of age, of noble birth, of good char- 
acter and sufficient wealth, and of sound body, to act as 
priests for the remainder of their lives, exempt from mili- 
tary and political duties. And as it was necessary that 
the women and the children should have some part in per- 
forming religious rites, Romulus enacted that the wives of 
priests should assist their husbands in religious services, 
and that the women and children should attend to those 
ceremonies which could not lawfully be performed by men. 

Romulus gave the father absolute, lifelong power over The power 
the son, including the right to scourge him, to bind him and f atne r. 
compel him thus to toil in the fields, or to put him to death, Dionysius ii. 
even if the son chanced to be engaged in public affairs, 20 - 
even if he were occupying high offices or were being com- 
mended for his public liberality. According to this law, 
illustrious men, while delivering from the rostra harangues 
against the senate but in favor of the people, men who for 
this reason were highly popular, have been dragged from 



33* 



Rome Under the Kings 



Rome, p. 73. 



(The consul 
who put his 
son to death 
for disobedi- 
ence.) 



Dionysius ii. 

27. 



His religious 
institutions. 

Livy i. 19. 



(Argiletum, 
a piece of 
ground be- 
tween the 
Quirinal and 
the Forum.) 



the rostra by their fathers to suffer whatever punishment 
the latter should think right. And while these sons were 
led away through the market-place, no one was able to res- 
cue them — neither the consul, nor tribune of the plebs, nor 
the mob whom they were flattering, and who considered its 
own power superior to all authority. I will not mention 
those whom fathers have slain, good men moved by virtue 
and zeal to achieve some noble deed forbidden by their 
parent. Such was the case with Manlius Torquatus and 
many others, in regard to whom I shall speak at the proper 
time. 

The Roman legislator did not limit the father's au- 
thority at this point, but gave him permission to sell the 
son . . . granting to the father more power over the son 
than to the master over his slaves; for if a slave is sold and 
afterward given his liberty, henceforth he remains free, 
whereas if the son is sold by the father and then liberated, 
he falls again under the paternal power, and a second time 
in like manner; not till after the third sale does he become 
free from his father. 

II. NUMA POMPILIUS 

After Numa had been made king in this way, he set 
about founding anew, on the principles of law and morals, 
the city recently established by force of arms. When he 
saw that the spirit of the citizens, rendered savage by 
military life, could not be reconciled to those principles 
during the continuance of wars, he concluded that his 
fierce nation should be softened by the disuse of arms. 
At the foot of Argiletum, therefore, he erected a temple of 
Janus as an index of peace and war; when open, it should 
show that the state was engaged in war, and its closing 
should signify that all the neighboring nations were at 






Guilds and Priests 339 

peace with Rome. Twice only since the reign of Numa 
has this temple been closed. 

He organized the people, according to their trades, in He organ- 
guilds of musicians, goldsmiths, builders, dyers, shoe- 
makers, curriers, coppersmiths, and potters. All the other Numa.%7. 
trades he united in one guild. He assigned to every guild 
its especial privileges, common to all the members, and 
ordained that each should have its own times of meeting 
and should worship its special patron god. 

Next he turned his attention to the appointment of He appoints 
priests, though he himself performed many sacred rites, pnests - 
especially those which now belong to the flatnen (priest) of Llvy lm 2 °' 
Jupiter. 

It is a crime for the flamen of Jupiter to ride horseback The priest 
or to see the centuries under arms; for this reason he has ° l er * 
rarely been elected consul. He is not permitted to take Aulus Geiiius 
an oath; the ring he wears must be hollow and of open from Fabius 
work. No fire may be carried from his house but the Plctor) - 
sacred fire. If a man enters that house bound, he must Rome, 22, 
be unbound, and the bonds must be carried through the w'orid, 333 f. 
inner court up the roof and thrown into the street. The 
flamen has no knot about him, either on his cap, his girdle, 
or any other part. If a man who is about to be beaten 
with rods falls at his feet as a suppliant, the guilty one 
cannot be beaten that day without sacrilege. None but 
a freeman may cut a flamen 's hair. He never touches or 
names a she-goat, raw flesh, hair, or beans. He must not 
clip the tendrils of the vine that climbs too high. The 
feet of the bed he sleeps in must be plastered with mud. 
He never quits it three consecutive nights, and no one 
else has the right to sleep therein. There must not be 
near the woodwork of his bed a box with sacred cakes in 
it. The parings of his nails and the cuttings of his hair 



34Q 



Rome Under the Kings 



The Vestal 
virgins. 

Livy i. 20. 



Plutarch, 
Numa, 10. 



The worship 
of the dead. 

Ovid, Fasti, 
ii- 533 ff- 

(The festival 
to the dead 
was cele- 
brated on 
February 
19. Styx, the 
river which 
bounds the 
world of the 
dead.) 



are covered with earth at the foot of a fruit tree. For him 
all days are holy days. He is not allowed to go into the 
open air without the apex (conical cap); and even as to 
remaining bareheaded under his own roof, the pontiffs 
have only quite recently decided that he may do so. 

Numa also selected maidens for Vesta, to fill a priest- 
hood derived from Alba and closely connected with the 
family of the founder of Rome. That they might be con- 
stant attendants in the temple, he appointed them salaries 
from the public treasury; and by requiring them to re- 
main unmarried and to perform various religious rites, he 
made them sacred and venerable. 

He ordained that the Vestal virgins should continue 
unmarried thirty years; during the first ten years they 
were to learn their duties, during the next ten they were 
to perform them, and during the last they were to teach 
others. After this period any of them who wished might 
marry and cease to be priestesses; but it is said that very 
few took advantage of this privilege and that those few 
were not happy. By their regrets and sorrow for the life 
they had left, they made the others scruple to leave it 
and prefer to remain maidens till their death. 

Honor is paid also to the graves of the dead. Appease 
the spirits of your forefathers, and offer small presents to 
the pyres that have long been cold. The shades of the 
dead ask but humble offerings: affection rather than 
costly gifts pleases them; Styx below has no greedy divin- 
ities. Enough for them is the covering of their tomb 
overshadowed with the chaplets laid there, and the scat- 
tered fruits and the little grain of salt, and corn soaked 
in wine, and violets loosened from the stem; let these 
gifts be placed in a jar in the middle of the way. I do 
not forbid more costly offerings, but by these mentioned 



Religious Festivals 341 

the shade may be appeased. After erecting the altars, 
add prayers and suitable words. 

But while they are celebrating these rites, remain un- "Let none 

wedded, ye maidens; let the torch of pine wood await marry." 

auspicious days. And let not the curved spear part thy (The pine 

virgin ringlets, thou maiden who appearest to thy impa- torch was 

tient mother already of marriageable years. Conceal thy marriage 

torches, Hymenaeus, and remove them afar from these ThepartSig 

dismal fires, — the gloomy tombs have other torches than oi .}}} e hair 

' ° J with a spear 

these. Let the gods, too, be concealed, with the doors was a mar- 
of their temples closed; be the fires without incense, and m0 ny. Hy- 
let the hearths stand without fire. Abroad now wander ^^\ w f s 
phantom spirits, and bodies that have been committed to marriage.) 
the tombs. Now the ghost feeds on the food left for 
it. . . . 

The kinsfolk, full of affection, have named the next day The 
the Caristia, and the company of relatives assemble at the 
family feast. In good truth it is a pleasant thing to turn 
our attention from the tombs and from our relatives who 
are dead, to those who survive; and after so many are 
lost, to see all that remains of our family, and to reckon 
the degrees of relationship. . . . 

When the night has passed away, then let the god who The festival 
by his landmark divides the fields be worshipped with the corner- 
accustomed honors. Terminus, whether thou art a stone, stones - 
or whether a stock sunk deep in the earth by the ancients, 
yet even in this form dost thou possess divinity. Thee 
the two owners of adjoining fields crown with chaplets 
from their opposite sides, and present with two garlands 
and two cakes. They build an altar; the peasant's wife 
brings in a broken pan the fire taken from the burning 
hearth. 

An old man cuts up the firewood, and piles it high when 



342 Rome Under the Kings 

chopped, and strives hard to drive the branches into the 
resisting ground. While he is exciting the kindling blaze 
with dried bark, a boy stands by and holds in his hands a 
broad basket. Out of this, when the father has thrice 
thrown the produce of the earth into the midst of the 
flames, his little daughter offers the sliced honeycombs. 
Others have wine; a portion of each thing is thrown into 
the fire; the crowd, all arrayed in white, look on and keep 
a religious silence. Terminus is sprinkled, too, with the 
blood of a slain lamb; he makes no complaint when a 
young pig is offered him. The neighbors meet in suppli- 
cation, and they celebrate the feast and sing thy praise, 
holy Terminus. It is thou that dost set the limits to na- 
tions, and cities, and mighty kingdoms; without thee the 
whole country would be steeped in litigation. 

III. Servius Tullius 

The census. He then set about a peaceful work of the utmost impor- 
tance, that as Numa had been the author of religious insti- 
tutions, posterity might celebrate Servius as the founder of 
all distinctions among the members of the state, and of 
those classes which are based on dignity and fortune. For 
he instituted the census, — a most salutary measure for an 
This complex empire destined to become so great. According to the cen- 
census did sus the services of war and peace were to be performed not 
after^the 'in- ^y every person without distinction, but in proportion to 
stitution of his amount of property. By means of the census he formed 

the censors . . . . . . . .„ 

in the early the classes and the centuries, — an arrangement which still 

see P p b 355, exists and which is eminently suited both to peace and to 

below. war. 
The census Of those who had an estate worth a hundred thousand 

cl&SSGS 

asses or more he made eighty centuries, forty of seniors and 
forty of juniors. All these centuries constituted the first 



The Census Classes 



343 



class. The seniors were to guard the city, the juniors to 
carry on war in the field. Their arms were a helmet, a 
round shield, greaves, and a corselet — all of bronze. This 
armor was for defence. Their offensive weapons were a 
spear and a sword. To the first class were added two cen- 
turies of mechanics, who were to serve without arms. 
Their duty was to convey the military engines. 

The second class included all whose estates were worth 
from seventy-five to a hundred thousand asses. From the 
seniors and juniors of this class twenty centuries in all were 
enrolled. Their shields were oblong instead of round, and 
they had no corselet. With these exceptions their arms were 
the same as those of the first class. The property of the 
third class amounted to fifty thousand asses (at the low- 
est); the number of the centuries was the same as of the 
second class with the same distinction of age. Their arms, 
too, were the same excepting that they wore no greaves. 
The fourth class, including all whose property was rated 
at twenty-five thousand asses (at the lowest), furnished 
the same number of centuries; but they had no arms ex- 
cepting a spear and a long javelin. The fifth class included 
thirty centuries, who carried slings and stones for throwing. 
Among them were counted three centuries of horn-blowers 
and trumpeters. The property of the class was rated at 
eleven thousand asses (at the lowest). All below this rat- 
ing formed one century exempt from military service. 

After dividing and arming the infantry in this way, he 
levied twelve centuries of knights from among the chief 
men of the state. And of the three centuries instituted by 
Romulus he made six without changing their names. 1 Ten 
thousand asses from the public revenue were given the 

1 The three original centuries were distinguished from the three 
afterward added by the terms 'earlier" and "later." 



Livy i. 43. 
(In the third 
century B.C. 
the as, a cop- 
per coin, was 
worth nearly 
two cents; in 
earlier times 
its value was 
greater. 
Probably the 
classification 
was at first 
based on 
land.) 



(Livy is con- 
fused as to 
the numbers; 
cf. Rome, 34. 
70; Ancient 
World, 341.) 



The cavalry. 

(In fact the 
number was 
doubled, and 
long after- 
ward twelve 
were added; 
Rome, 34, 
70.) 



344 



Rome Under the Kings 



The as- 
sembly of the 
centuries 

(comilia 
centuriata). 



The city 
tribes. 

(At the same 
time he 
probably di- 
vided the 
country, too, 
into tribes.) 

The growing 
population. 

Livy i. 44. 



In fact the 
number of 
men of mili- 
tary age at 
this time 
could hardly 
have exceed- 
ed nine or 
ten thou- 
sand; Ancient 
World, 337. 



knights for buying horses; and widows were taxed two 
thousand asses yearly for the support of the horses. All 
these burdens were taken off the poor and laid on the 
rich. 

Then an additional honor was added; the right to vote 
was not given to all alike, according to the custom estab- 
lished by Romulus, and followed by succeeding kings, of 
granting to every man the same right; but degrees of privi- 
lege were made, so that no one might seem to be excluded 
from the right of voting, and yet the whole power might 
reside in the chief men of the state. For the knights were 
first called, and then the eighty centuries of the first class; 
and if they happened to differ, which was rarely the case, 
those of the second were called, and the voting seldom 
descended to the lowest class. 

Next he divided the city into four parts according to the 
regions and hills then inhabited, and he called these divi- 
sions tribes, as I think from the tribute; for he introduced 
also the method of levying taxes according to the value of 
estates. 

The taking of the census he hastened by the terror of a 
law which threatened with imprisonment and death those 
who did not present themselves to be rated. He then pro- 
claimed that all the Roman citizens, horse and foot, should 
attend at the dawn of day in the Campus Martius, each in 
his century. . . . Eighty thousand citizens are said to 
have been rated in that survey. Fabius Pictor, the earliest 
of our historians, adds that such was the number of those 
who were able to bear arms. This multitude made neces- 
sary the enlargement of the city. Servius, accordingly, 
added two hills, the Quirinal and the Viminal. . . . The 
whole city he surrounded with an earthen rampart, a moat, 
and a wall. 



A Great Temple 345 



IV. The Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter 

The king undertook to build a temple to Jupiter, Juno, y° rk . of the 
and Minerva in performance of the vow he had made to 
the gods in the last battle against the Sabines. He thffkst 7 
therefore surrounded the hill, on which he proposed to Tar< i uln - 
place the temple, with high supporting walls in many Dionysius 
places; for it was neither easy of access nor even, but 
craggy and ending in a point; hence there was great dim- This temple 
culty in rendering it fit for the purpose. He therefore cated in the 
filled up the interval between the supporting walls and fh^Ref^ ° f 
the top of the hill with earth; and by levelling it, made it public, 
very fit to receive the sanctuaries. But he was prevented Dionysius 
by death from laying the foundations of it: for he lived as^it existed 
but four years after the end of the last war. Many years £ m ^ s °ori g i_ 
afterward, however, the Tarquin, who was the second nall y il was 

in Etruscan 

king after him, and who was finally dethroned, laid the style; cf. 
foundations of this structure, and built a great part of it. w odd* $21. 
But even he did not complete the work, which was finished 
under those annual magistrates who were consuls the third 
year after his expulsion. It is proper to relate also the 
incidents that preceded the building of it, which all the 
writers of the local history have handed down. When 
Tarquinius was preparing to build the temple, he called 
the augurs together and ordered them first to consult the 
gods as to the most suitable place of all the city to be con- 
secrated, and the most acceptable to the gods; and on 
their naming the hill that commands the Forum, and was 
then called the Tarpeian, now the Capitoline hill, he or- 
dered them again to declare after they had consulted the 
gods, in which part of the hill the foundations ought to be 
laid; in this matter there was no small difficulty; for there 
were upon the hill many altars, of both gods and geniuses, 



34^ 



Rome Under the Kings 



A ncient 
World, 329. 



End of the 
kingship. 

Livy i. 60. 
(In the 
absence of 
the king, the 
city was 
ruled by a 
"prefect.") 



not far distant from one another, which were to be removed 
to some other place, and the whole area to be set aside for 
the sacred enclosure, that was proposed to be created 
there for the gods. The augurs thought proper to consult 
the gods to whom these altars were consecrated, concerning 
every one of them; and if they gave their consent, then to 
remove them; the rest of the gods, therefore, and geniuses 
gave them leave to remove their altars; but Terminus and 
Juventus, although the augurs besought them with great 
earnestness, and importunity, could not be prevailed on 
to leave their places; for which reason their altars were in- 
cluded within the circuit of the temple, and one of them, 
now, stands in the portico of the chapel of Minerva, and 
the other, in the chapel itself near to the statue of that 
goddess; from hence, the augurs concluded that no time 
would ever remove the boundaries of the Roman empire, 
or impair its vigor; and both have proved true to this age, 
which is now the twenty-fourth generation. 

Lucius Tarquinius, the Proud, reigned twenty-five 
years; the regal form of government extended from the 
building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and 
forty-five years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus 
and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, were elected in the 
comitia centuriata under the prefect of the city, as pre- 
scribed by the commentaries of Servius Tullius. 



STUDIES 

1. How did the Romans found a city (cf. remark in margin)? 
Describe the division of the population into tribes and curiae; into 
patricians and plebeians. Who belonged to the curiae? What 
public rights had the clients? Describe the founding of a Roman 
colony. What was done with conquered aliens who wished to live at 
Rome? What religious regulations are ascribed to Romulus? De- 
scribe the early family. 



Studies 347 



2. What religious institutions are said to have been established by 
Numa? What restrictions were placed on the priest of Jupiter? 
How did the Romans worship the dead? What guilds are ascribed 
to Numa as founder? 

3. What are the most important institutions assigned to Servius. 
Tullius? Why should the Romans ascribe to him census regulations 
which were in fact adopted long after his time? 

4. From this passage what ceremonies seem to have been neces- 
sary before building a temple? Eliminating the individual kings, 
who are largely mythical, write an essay on (1) the government 
under the kings; (2) the early Roman religion. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE EARLY REPUBLIC: (I) THE PLEBEIANS WIN 
THEIR RIGHTS 



The Repub- 
lic, 509 B.C. 

Cicero, Re- 
public, ii. 30. 

Ancient 
World, 339. 



(Law of 
Valerius 
Publicola.) 



The consuls. 

Livy ii. 1 . 



Rome, 27. 



I. The Founding of the Republic 

After the kingship had lasted more than two hundred 
and fifty years, Tarquin was expelled. At this time the 
Romans hated the name of king as much as they had once 
longed for the deceased — or rather the departed — Romu- 
lus. When Tarquin was banished, therefore, the monarchy 
came to an end. 

Then Publicola had a law passed by the popular assem- 
bly that no magistrate should put to death or scourge a 
Roman citizen without granting him the right of appeal to 
the people. 

But we date the beginning of liberty from this period be- 
cause the consuls were annual magistrates, not because they 
had any less power than that of king. The first consuls had 
all the privileges and trappings of royal authority. Care 
was taken, however, that they might not appear doubly 
terrible by both having the (lictors and) fasces at the same 
time. With the consent of his colleague Brutus was first 
attended by the fasces. He had been zealous in establish- 
ing liberty, and now he was its faithful guardian. First of 
all he required the people, while still enraptured with their 
new liberty, to swear that they would never again suffer a 
king to rule at Rome; for he feared that they might after- 
ward be won over or bribed by the royal family. Next, 
that a full list of members might give the senate more 

348 



Early Republican Institutions 349 

strength, he chose into it the principal men from the class 
of knights so as to complete the number three hundred, 
which the king's murders had diminished. 

Then the Romans attended to religious matters. The King of the 
kings had performed a part of the public worship; and in (R ex sacro- 
order that their service might not be missed, a king of the rum '^ 
sacrifices was appointed. This priestly office the Romans Llvy "• 2 - 
made subject to the chief pontiff, in order that too great R° m ?> 2 °; 
honor, added to the name of king, might not endanger their World, 340. 
liberty, now their chief care. 

In that period the senate maintained the commonwealth The senate 
in such a condition that, though the people were free, they suis. 
had little to do with the government; for the senate man- cicero, .Re- 
aged nearly all public business by its own authority and P ublic > "» 32. 
according to its own customs and traditions, while over 
all, the consuls exercised a power which, though annual, 
was by nature and law truly royal. They earnestly en- 
forced that rule which has done so much to maintain the 
power of the nobles, that the acts of the popular assembly 
should not be valid unless approved by the senate. 

Scarcely ten years after the first consuls, Titus Lartius The dicta- 
was appointed first dictator. This new office seemed like ° r ' 49 
the royal power restored. Rome > 6& ' 

Immediately after receiving his authority, he appointed Dionysius v. 
Spurius Cassius master of horse, for no one to this day 
when chosen dictator enters upon his office without a mas- 
ter of horse. Wishing to make a display of his power for 
the purpose of striking terror rather than for any real use, 
he bade his lictors bear through the city their axes bound 
in rods (fasces). This was a custom of the kings but 
abandoned by the consuls, for Valerius Publicola made the 
change in order to render the consular office less hateful to 
the people. 



35° 



The Early Republic 



Livy H. 18. When the first dictator was appointed at Rome, the 

people, seeing the axes carried before him, were struck with 
awe, so that they became more submissive and more 
obedient to orders. Under the consuls a citizen oppressed 
by one could ask the aid of the other; but under the dic- 
tator there was no such means of assistance; neither was 
there a right of appeal or any other resource except in 
strict obedience. 



The tribunes 
of the plebs. 

Livy ii. 33. 

Ancient 
World, 342. 

493 B.C. 



Cicero, Re- 
public, ii. 34. 



The comitia 
tributa in- 
stituted, 
471 B.C. 

Dionysius 
ix. 41. 

The author 
of this law 
was Publil- 
ius Volero; 
A ncient 
World, 343. 



II. The Growth of Plebeian Rights 

Then they began to consider a reconciliation, and among 
the conditions it was allowed that the plebeians should 
have their own magistrates, with inviolable privileges, who 
should have the power of bringing common people aid 
against the consuls, and that it should not be lawful for 
any of the patricians to hold this office. In this way two 
tribunes of the plebs were created. 

By the institution of two tribunes to appease the sedition 
of the people, the power of the senate was lessened. Still 
it remained dignified and august, for it was still composed 
of the wisest and bravest men, who protected their country 
in peace and in war. Their authority was still strong be- 
cause in honor they were superior to their fellow-citizens. 

This man, therefore, as soon as he was at liberty to 
perform the functions of his office, . . . assembled the 
people, and proposed a law concerning the election of the 
tribunes, by which that election was to be transferred 
from the assemblies of the curiae, called by the Romans 
Comitia Curiata, to the assemblies of the tribes. The dif- 
ference between them is this: in order to render valid the 
resolutions taken in the assemblies of the curiae, it was 
necessary that the senate should issue a decree, and that 
the people, voting in their curiae, should confirm it, and 



Early Roman Laws 351 

that after both these acts the heavenly signs and auspices 
should not oppose it: whereas in the assemblies of the 
tribes neither the previous decree of the senate was neces- 
sary, nor the ratification of the holy rites and auspices, 
but only that the resolutions there taken should be finally 
determined by the members of the tribes in one day. 

III. Laws of the Twelve Tables 

Let the master of a funeral make use of a public officer Funerals, 
and lictors. Let it be lawful for him to use three mantles 
in a funeral, a purple fillet for the head, and ten flute- Ancient 
players. Let him do no more than this. 

Let none pour wine mixed with precious ointment into 
dead bodies. 

Let none make more than one funeral for one person, or 
carry more than one bier in the funeral procession. 

Let none make use of gold in funerals. But if the teeth 
of the deceased are fastened with gold, let none be pros- 
ecuted for burying or burning the deceased with that 
gold. 

Let not women scratch their faces or tear their cheeks or 
raise lamentations on account of a funeral. 

Let the praises of honored men be repeated in a gather- 
ing of the people; and let songs of mourning, accompanied 
with a flute, attend these praises. 

Let the father have power over the life and death of his The family 
son. Let it be lawful to sell the son as a slave three times. e rty. 
If the father shall sell the son three times, let the son be 
free from his father. 

Let there be a space of two and a half feet round the 
outer wall of every house. 

Let an oath be of the greatest force to insure credit. 

Let no man take more interest for money than one per 



352 



The Early Republic 



cent a month. If he shall do otherwise, let him be fined 
four times that sum. 

Crimes. If a judge or arbitrator appointed by law shall take 

money for a judgment to be given, let the crime be 
capital. 

If any one breaks the limb of another and makes no 
reparation, let retaliation take place. 

Whoever shall maliciously burn another's house, let him 

Rome, 86. be bound and whipped at the discretion of the praetor, and 
burned. But if the mischief is accidental, let him, at the 
discretion of the praetor, repair the damage or be punished 
for it by being whipped. 

If any one shall publish slander or write verses to the 
defamation of another, let the offence be capital. If any 
shall assemble in the city privately at night, let the offence 
be capital. 

Let there be no intermarriage between patricians and 
plebeians. 

Debtors. Let thirty days' grace be granted after a debt has been 

confessed and judgment given. Then let the debtor be 
seized. Let the creditor bring him before the court. If he 
does not obey the summons, or is not bailed by any one, 
let the creditor take him away and bind him with a thong 
or with fetters weighing no more than fifteen pounds, or if 
he will, less. If the debtor pleases, let him maintain him- 
self. If he does not maintain himself, let the one who keeps 
him in bonds give him a pound of spelt every day; if he 
thinks fit, more. Meantime let there be an agreement. 
If the debtor does not agree with his creditor, let the latter 
keep him in bonds sixty days. In this period let the creditor 
cite him to court three market-days in succession, and let 
him proclaim the sum at which the costs are laid. Then 
let the creditor put him to death; or if he pleases, sell him 



The Tribal Assembly 353 

as a slave in a foreign country beyond the Tiber. But if 
the debtor is assigned to many creditors, let them on the 
third market-day cut his body into several pieces. If 
they cut more or less, let it bring no damage to them- 
selves. 

IV. Further Growth of Plebeian Rights 

a. The Valerian-Horatian Laws 

After the subversion of the decemvirate, the first per- Power of 
sons who were invested with the consular dignity by the assembly 
people in an assembly of the centuries, were, as I said, enlarged, 

44-9 l>.v_-. 

Lucius Valerius Potitus and Marcus Horatius Barbatus. 
These magistrates, who were themselves of a popular x i. 45. 
disposition and had inherited these principles from their Ancient 
ancestors, adhered to the promises they had made to the World > 345- 
plebeians, when they persuaded them to lay down their 
arms. Avowing that, in their administration, they would 
consult nothing but the interest of the people, they en- 
acted several laws in the assembly of centuries, — while the 
patricians were dissatisfied but ashamed to oppose them, 
— some laws which I need not record, and particularly 
that which ordains that the laws passed by the people in 
their assemblies by tribes should bind all the Romans 
without distinction, and have the same force with those 
which should be passed in the assemblies by centuries. 
The punishments appointed against such as should abro- This state- 
gate or transgress this law, if convicted thereof, were to cor rect a 
death and the confiscation of their fortunes. ... It was ^°f [£ e e a r s ror 
stated above that in the assemblies by tribes the plebeians sembly of 

. , , . . , , tribes here 

and the poorer sort were superior to the patricians; but mentioned 
in the assembly by centuries, the patricians, though far tafn patri- 011 " 
less numerous, were superior to the plebeians. < ^ AQS - 



354 



The Early Republic 



Proposal of 
Canuleius, 
445 B.C. 
Livy iv. i. 



Aristocratic 
feeling. 

lb. 2. 

These selec- 
tions up to 
and includ- 
ing the 
Ogulnian law 
have been 
translated 
by Dr. E. G. 
Sihler. 

Ancient 
World, 346. 



Plebeian 
feeling. 

Livy iv. 4. 6. 



b. The Canuleian Law 

At the beginning of the year the tribune of the people 
C. Canuleius made public a bill concerning the right of 
intermarriage [conubium] of the senatorial class (patres) 
and the plebeians, by which the senatorial class felt that 
their blood was stained and the rights of the old families 
were perverted. 

[Appeal of the aristocracy]: They should remember 
what eminence the senate itself had received from the 
Fathers, what eminence they intended to hand down to 
their children, so that they too, like the plebeians, could 
boast that it was more enlarged and imposing. . . . 
What and how great things had C. Canuleius undertaken? 
He was proposing a rude mixture of families, a perversion 
of public and private auspices, to the end that there be 
nothing pure and unstained, so that with the removal of 
all distinction no one could know either himself or his 
own. For what other force could mixed marriages have, 
but that almost in the fashion of irrational beasts the mat- 
ing of plebeians and patricians be indiscriminately brought 
about? So that the offspring (of such alliances) shall not 
know of what blood or of what religion he is. One half 
would be of senatorial rank, one half of plebeian, not even 
itself in harmony with itself. . . . 

Or can there be any greater or more marked disgrace, 
than that a part of the citizen body as though polluted 
should be held unworthy of the right of intermarriage? . . . 

The plebeians on this issue were particularly enraged, 
because it was claimed that they could not secure auspices, 
as though they were hateful to the immortal gods, nor was 
there an end of the struggles — since the plebeians had got 
as its leader a most insistent tribune and since the pie- 



Consular Tribunes; Censors 355 

beians themselves vied with him in persistence until the 
Fathers, at last overcome, yielded that a legislative vote 
should be had concerning the right of intermarriage. . . . 

c. The Military Tribunes with Consular Power 

When Canuleius, through his victory over the Fathers The creation 

and through his popularity with the plebeians, became a resulted di- 

man of towering stature, other tribunes in hot enthusiasm {^victory 

to enter upon a struggle for their own bill made a contest of Canule- 
ius. 



with all their might, and while the rumor of war was grow- 

World, 346. 



ing day by day they prevented the enrollment of troops. lvy 1V ' 6 " 
The consuls, since nothing could be done through the l 
senate, as the tribunes interfered, held meetings of the 
leading men at home. It was clear that they would either 
have to yield victory to the enemy or to citizens. Of the 
retired consuls, Valerius and Horatius took no share in 
the deliberations. The motion of C. Claudius proposed to A method of 
arm the consuls against the tribunes; the motions of the warfare 
Quinctii, of Cincinnatus, and Capitolinus would have noth- the plebeians 
ing to do with slaughter and with violently treating the was to ref j| se 
officers (tribunes) whom, after concluding a treaty with their griev- 
the plebeians, they had accepted to be inviolable in person. righted™** 6 
Through these conferences the issue was brought to that We have 
point that they permitted military tribunes with consular here » \ 00 > „ an 

\ ....... .. example of a 

power to be chosen indiscriminately from patricians and secret cau- 
plebeians. As to the election of consuls no change was to cus ' 
be made; and therewith both tribunes and plebs were con- 
tented. 

d. The Censors 

In the year in which Marcus Geganius Macerinus was Growth of 
consul a second time and Titus Quinctius Capitolinus a 443 B.C. ' 
fifth time, the censorship was instituted. Though of Livy iv. 8. 



356 



The Early Republic 



Supervision 
of the farmers 
and the 
knights. 

Aulus Gellius 
iv. 12. 



humble origin, it grew in importance till it came to regulate 
the morals and discipline of Rome, to revise the list of the 
senators and knights, to mark the citizens with honor or 
disgrace, and to control the revenues of the state. The 
Romans instituted the office because the census and as- 
sessment of citizens had not been taken for several years. 
This work could no longer be deferred, and the consuls 
had no leisure to attend to it while wars with so many 
states were impending. 

If any one permitted his land to run to waste, and did 
not plow or keep it in order, or if any one had neglected 
his trees or vineyard, it was not with impunity; the matter 
fell within the censor's authority and the censors degraded 
him. Also if any Roman knight had a horse in poor con- 
dition or unseemly to look on, he was fined for lack of 
proper grooming, which is the same as if you were to say 
want of care. There are good authorities for both these 
circumstances, and M. Cato has frequently attested them. 



The authors 
were Li- 
cinius and 

Sextius, 
367 B.C. 

Livy vi. 35, 
43. 

This para- 
graph gives 
the policy of 
the tribunes. 



e. The Licinian Laws 

The outward cause of political innovations, it seems, 
was the huge amount of debt, for which trouble the ple- 
beians could hope for no relief unless men of their own class 
were placed in the highest governmental position. It was 
necessary earnestly to think about it. By tentative ef- 
forts and working the plebeians, they said, had reached 
that point of advancement whence if they strove further, 
they might be able to reach the highest things and be 
placed on a level with the senatorial class in honor as well 
as in merit. For the present it was determined to have 
tribunes of the people chosen, in which office they might 
find a way for themselves to the other honors of state. 

And C. Licinius and L. Sextius were elected tribunes 



The Licinian Laws 357 

and then published bills, all of which were antagonistic to The pro- 
1 /-i • • 1 • 1 riii posals. 

the power of the patricians and in the interest of the plebs, 

one concerning debt, viz. that, subtracting from the prin- 
cipal what had been paid by way of interest, what re- 
mained was to be paid within three years in equal instal- 
ments; the other concerning the limit of lands, that no 
one should enter on more than fifty acres of (public) land; 
the third that no elections be held of military tribune [with 
consular power] and that under all circumstances one of 
the two consuls should be chosen from the plebs — all 
matters of towering importance, — which could not be 
maintained without the greatest effort. When therefore a 
critical struggle was impending, involving at one and the 
same time all things for which an unlimited desire prevails 
among men, to wit, land, money, and office of state, — the 
senators thoroughly frightened and in a flutter of irresolu- 
tion, found in public and private conferences no remedy 
but intercession, which had been tested in many prior 
struggles. They set up some of the colleagues (in the 
tribunate) against the bills of the tribunes. When they 
saw that the people were being summoned by Licinius and 
Sextius to begin the voting, they surrounded themselves 
with a bodyguard of senators and they would not suffer 
the bills to be read aloud nor any other customary form to 
be gone through toward having the people pass any reso- 
lution. And now having often called in vain a meeting, and 
seeing the bills as good as defeated, Sextius said: "Very well, 
since it is decided that intercession shall count for so much, 
we will protect the plebs with that very weapon. Come, ye 
senators, announce an election for choosing military trib- 
unes, I will see to it that no help come from that term 
veto ("I forbid") j which with such satisfaction you now 
hear our colleagues harmoniously utter." The threats were 



35» 



The Early Republic 



not uttered in vain: no elections were held except those 
of aediles and tribunes of the people. Licinius and Sextius 
were reelected as tribunes of the people and suffered no 
curule magistrate to be chosen: and this desolation — the 
plebs reelecting the two tribunes and they doing away with 
elections of military tribunes — prevailed in the city for 
five years. Finally after great struggles the dictator and 
the senate were overpowered, so that the measures of the 
tribunes were admitted. The elections of the consuls were 
held in spite of the resistance of the nobility, at which 
Lucius Sextius was made consul, the first of plebeian rank. 



To admit 
plebeians 
to the 
augural and 
pontifical 
colleges, 
300 B.C. 

Livy x. 6. 

The law in 
fact in- 
creased the 
number of 
augurs and 
pontiffs to 
nine each, 
and provided 
that four 
augurs and 
five pontiffs 
should be 
plebeian; 
Botsford, 
Roman As- 
semblies, 309. 



The struggle 
which led to 
it. 

Dio Cassius, 
Frag. 37. 



f . The Ogulnian Law 

A struggle arose among the leading men of the state, 
patricians and plebeians, a struggle stirred up by the 
tribunes of the people Q. and Cn. Ogulnius, who every- 
where saw opportunities to make charges against the 
senatorial class before the plebeians. After trying other 
things in vain, they undertook to inflame not the lowest 
plebs, but the very heads of the plebs, retired consuls and 
triumphatores, to whose honors nothing was lacking but 
the priestly offices, which were not yet promiscuously be- 
stowed. Therefore they published a bill to this effect: 
"Whereas there are four augurs and four pontifices at this 
time, it is resolved to have the number of priests enlarged, 
and four pontifices and five augurs shall be chosen in addi- 
tion from the plebeians." 

g. The Eortensian Law 

When the tribunes moved an annulment of debts, the 
law was often proposed without avail, since the leaders 
were by no means willing to accept it and the tribunes 
granted the nobles the choice of either putting this law to 



Hortensian Law 359 

vote or following that of Stolo, by which they were to Licinius 

1 1 • • ii • 1 1 Stolo; 

reckon the previous interest toward the principal and re- p. 356 f. 
ceive the remainder in triennial payments. For the time a ov 
being the weaker party, dreading lest it might lose all, paid 
court to them, and the wealthier class, encouraged to 
think it would not be compelled to adopt either course, 
maintained a hostile attitude. But when the revolted 
party proceeded to press matters somewhat, both sides 
changed their positions. The debtors were no longer satis- 
fied with either plan, and the nobles thought themselves 
lucky if they should not be deprived of their principal. 
Hence the dispute was not decided immediately, but after- 
ward they prolonged their rivalry in a spirit of conten- 
tiousness, and did not act at all in their usual character. 
Finally the people made peace in spite of the fact that the 
nobles were unwilling to remit much more than they had 
originally expected; however, the more they beheld their 
creditors yielding, the more they were emboldened, as if 
they were successful by a kind of right; and consequently 
they regarded the various concessions almost as matters 
of course and strove for yet more, using as a stepping-stone 
to that end the fact that they had already obtained some- 
thing. 

After great and long-continued seditions due to debts Livy, 
the plebs seceded to the Janiculum, whence they were 
brought back by Quintus Hortensius as dictator. Th3 law 

After the secession of the plebs to the Janiculum, Q. 2 &7 B.C. 

Hortensius dictator moved and carried a law in the iEscule- r ^ y m s tor^ 

turn that whatever the plebs ordered should be binding on xvi - IO > 37- 

,1 ,1 ... Gaius i. 3. 

all the citizens. A plebiscite 

Formerly the patricians maintained that they were not p r * s ^.J^by 

bound by plebiscites, as the latter were passed without a tribune to 

1 • 1 • , r 1 1 i-r • a tribal as- 

tneir authorization; but afterward the Hortensian statute sembly. 



360 The Early Republic 

was enacted, which provided that plebiscites should be 
binding on the whole people; and in this way they were 
made equal to statutes. 

STUDIES 

1. Describe the government of the early Republic. Compare it 
with the government under the kings. 

2. Show how the comitia tributa differed from the other popular 
assemblies. 

3. From the laws of the Twelve Tables what may we infer regarding 
(1) funeral customs, (2) the family, (3) honesty in business, (4) the 
condition of the poor, (5) the general character of the Romans of the 
time? 

4. a. How did the laws of Valerius and Horatius affect the tribal 
assembly? b. What was the feeling of the aristocracy and the plebs 
respectively as to the question of intermarriage? c. What led to the 
institution of military tribunes with consular power? d. What were 
the functions of the censors, and why were they instituted? e. What 
appeal did Licinius and Sextius make to the people? How did they 
bring about the enactment of their bill? f. What was the Ogulnian 
law? g. Describe the conflict which led to the enactment of the 
Hortensian law. What were its terms? From the entire chapter 
write an account of the methods of political warfare adopted by the 
opposing parties. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE EARLY REPUBLIC: (II) ROME BECOMES 
SUPREME IN ITALY 

I. Treaty with Carthage and with the Latins 

The first treaty between Rome and Carthage was made First treaty 
in the year of Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius, R om e and 
the first consuls elected after the expulsion of the kings. 9 ar ^^*' 
Of this treaty I append a translation as accurate as I could _ . .. ... 

.... . .11 • ,.«. Polybius m. 

make it, for the fact is that the ancient language diners so 22. 

much from that at present in use that the best scholars R om e, 39. 
among the Romans themselves have great difficulty in 
interpreting some points in the document. 

"Between the Romans and their allies, and the Cartha- (The early 

ginians and their allies, there shall be peace and alliance treaty has 

upon the following terms:- gg£» 

" Neither the Romans nor their allies shall sail beyond wi j- ho . ut 

. sufficient 

the Fair Promontory, unless driven by bad weather or by grounds. 
an enemy. And in case any one of them be driven ashore, ontoryTson 
he shall not buy or take aught for himself save what is ^ s I J Q t f hern 
needful for the repair of his ship and the service of the Africa, near 
gods, and he shall depart within five days. 

"Merchants landing for traffic in Sardinia or in Libya 
shall strike no bargain except in the presence of a herald or 
a town clerk; and the credit of the state shall be a security 
to the merchant for whatever he shall sell in the presence of 
this officer. 

"If any Roman lands in the Carthaginian province in 
Sicily, he shall enjoy all the rights enjoyed by others. 

361 



362 



The Early Republic 



Treaty 
between 
Rome and 
the Latins, 
493 B.C. 



Dionysius 
vi. 5. 



A ncient 
World, 352. 



"The Carthaginians, on the other hand, shall do no in- 
jury to the people of Antium, Laurentum, Circeii, Tar- 
racina, or any other people of the Latins who are subject to 
Rome. Nor shall they possess themselves of any town of 
the Latins which is not subject to Rome. If they take one 
of these towns, they shall deliver it unharmed to the 
Romans. 

"The Carthaginians shall build no fort in Latium; and if 
they land an armed force there, they shall depart before 
night." 

[A few years afterward the Romans concluded with the 
Latins the following treaty:] 

"Let there be peace between the Romans and all the 
Latin cities as long as heaven and earth shall remain in 
their present position. 

"Let them neither make war upon one another them- 
selves, nor bring in foreign enemies, nor grant a safe pas- 
sage to those who shall make war upon either. 

"Let them with all their forces assist one another when 
attacked by enemies, and let both have equal shares of the 
spoils and booty taken in their common wars. 

"Let suits relating to private contracts be determined in 
ten days among that people among whom the contract was 
made. 

"Let nothing be added to, or taken from, these treaties 
except by the joint consent of the Romans and all the 
Latins." 



The battle 
of the Allia, 
390 B.C. 

Plutarch. 
Camillus, 13. 



II. Sack of Rome by the Gauls 

Every Roman believes that the prayers of Camillus 
were quickly heard by Jupiter, and that a terrible retribu- 
tion was exacted for his wrongs. (For it was while he was 
in exile that the Gauls came.) 



The Gauls at Rome 363 

The Romans marched about eleven miles from the city, 
and halted for the night on the banks of the Allia, a stream ib. 18. 
which joins the Tiber not far from where their camp was 
pitched. Here in an unskilful battle the want of discipline 
caused the ruin of the Romans. The Gauls drove the left 
wing into the river and destroyed it, but the right, which 
took refuge in the hills to avoid the enemy's charge on level 
ground, suffered less, and most of this division safely 
reached the city. Of the rest, those who survived after 
the enemy were weary with slaughter took refuge at Veii, 
imagining that all was over with Rome. 

On the third day after the battle Brennus (the Gallic The Gauls 
chief) came at the head of his army to attack the city. sac ° me ' 
Seeing the gates open and no guards on the walls, he at cS£ 22. 
first feared some ambuscade, as he could not believe that , . , 

7 Ancient 

the Romans had so utterly despaired of themselves. When World, 354 f. 
he discovered the truth, he marched through the Colline 
Gate, and captured Rome a little more than three hundred 
and sixty years after its foundation, if we can believe that 
any accurate record has been kept of those earlier periods. 

(First the barbarians plundered and burned the city, The siege of 
while the Romans held only the Capitoline Mount.) En- e api 0i * 
couraged by their chief, the Gauls eagerly volunteered an hamulus, 27. 
assault on the Capitol. About midnight many of them 
climbed silently up the rock, which although rough and 
precipitous was easier of ascent than they had imagined ; so 
that the first of them reached the top, and were on the 
point of attacking the rampart and its sleeping garrison, 
for neither men nor dogs noticed them. 

But there were sacred geese kept in the temple of Juno, 
which in other times were fed without stint, but which then, 
as there was scarcely food enough for the men, were some- 
what neglected. These birds are naturally quick of hearing 



3 6 4 



The Early Republic 



"Woe to 
the van- 
quished! " 

Plutarch, 

C a mill us, 28. 



Camillus 
comes to the 
rescue. 

Plutarch, 
Camillus, 29. 



and timid; and now rendered wakeful and wild by hunger, 
they quickly perceived the Gauls climbing up, and rushing 
noisily to the place, awoke the garrison. 

The Gauls, feeling that they were discovered, no longer 
preserved silence, but violently assaulted the place. The 
Romans snatched whatever arms came first to hand and 
ran to repel them. First of all Manlius, a man of consular 
rank, strong of body and full of courage, fell in with two of 
the enemy. As one of them lifted up his battle-axe, Man- 
lius cut off the right hand with his sword, while he dashed 
his shield into another's face and threw him backward 
down the cliff. Then he stood upon the wall, and with the 
help of those who gathered round him, beat off the rest, for 
not many had reached the top or effected anything equal 
to the boldness of the attempt. After thus escaping the 
danger, the Romans threw their sentinel down the rock, 
whereas on Manlius they conferred by vote a reward for 
his bravery. 

(Afterward the Romans on the Capitoline Mount came 
to terms with the enemy.) Brennus, the Gallic chief, and 
Sulpicius, a Roman leader of the commons, met, and it was 
agreed that the Romans should pay a thousand pounds of 
gold, and that on receiving it, the Gauls should at once 
leave the country. Both parties swore to observe these 
conditions; but while the gold was being weighed, the 
Gauls at first stealthily tampered with the scales and then 
openly pulled the beam, so that the Romans became angry. 
Thereupon Brennus insolently took off his sword and belt 
and threw them into the scale; and when Sulpicius asked, 
"What is this?" he replied, "Woe to the vanquished!" 

While the Romans were thus disputing with the Gauls 
and with one another, Camillus with his army was at the 
gates. Learning what was going on within, he ordered the 



Greek Invasion of Italy 365 

mass of his soldiers to follow him quietly and in good order, 
while he pushed on with the picked troops to join the 
Romans, who all made way for him and received him as 
their dictator with silence and respect. He then took the 
gold from the scales and gave it to his lictors, and ordered Rome, 27; 
the Gauls to take the scales and the beam and depart; "for World, zss- 
it is the custom of the Romans," he said, "to defend their 
country not with gold but with iron." 

In this way Rome was strangely taken and yet more Plutarch, 
strangely rescued, after the Gauls had held it more than 
ten months. 



Camillus, 30. 



III. Pyrrhus 

He was indeed a soldier worthy to command soldiers, Plutarch, 
the only king of the age in whom could be traced any like- yrr us ' ' 
ness to the great Alexander. By the fire and the energy of 
his movements in the field of battle, Pyrrhus revived the 
image of that hero; other kings mimicked him only in 
their behavior and in the trappings and state of royalty. 
We can form an opinion of his knowledge and skill in 
military affairs from the writings which he has left on these 
subjects. It is said, too, that Antigonus when asked who Greece, 318; 
was the greatest general answered, " Pyrrhus, if he lives world, 359 f. 
to be old," for he was speaking of the generals of his time 
only. Hannibal, however, considered Pyrrhus to have 
been the best general that ever lived for skill and resource, 
placing Scipio next and himself third, as is written in the 
life of Scipio. 

In fact Pyrrhus devoted the whole of his intellect to the 
art of war; for he regarded it as the only study fit for a 
king, and held all other occupations frivolous. . . . 

As he desired some new adventures, he embraced the 
following opportunity. Rome was at war with the Taren- 



3 66 



The Early Republic 



281-272 

B.C. 



Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus, 13. 



He disci- 
plines the 
Tarentines. 

Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus, 16. 



tines; and as they were not strong enough to carry on the 
contest, and yet were not allowed by the audacious folly of 
their mob orators to make peace, they proposed to choose 
Pyrrhus leader and to invite him to be their ally in the war, 
for he was then more at leisure than any of the other kings 
and also was the best general of all. . . . 

Thus they voted for war and sent ambassadors to Epirus, 
not from Tarentum alone but from the other Greek cities 
in Italy. These delegates carried presents to Pyrrhus and 
were instructed to tell him that they required a leader of 
skill and renown, and that they possessed a force of Lu- 
canians, Messapians, Samnites, and Tarentines which 
amounted to twenty thousand cavalry and three hundred 
and fifty thousand infantry. This information not only 
excited Pyrrhus, but made all the Epirots eager to take 
part in the campaign. 

When Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum, he did nothing to 
displease the people till his fleet reached the coast and he 
had gathered the greater part of his army. Then as he 
saw that the populace, unless ruled by a strong hand, could 
help neither him nor themselves, but intended to stay 
idling about their baths and entertainments at home while 
he fought their battles, he closed the gymnasia and the 
public walks, in which the people were wont to waste their 
time in empty talk about the war. He forbade all drink- 
ing, feasting, and unreasonable revels, and forced the 
people to take arms. In carrying out this order he showed 
himself inexorable to every one who was on the muster- 
roll of able-bodied citizens. This conduct made him greatly 
disliked, and many of the Tarentines left the city in dis- 
gust; for they were so unused to discipline that inability 
to pass their lives as they chose they considered to be no 
better than slavery. 



Pyrrhus Defeats the Romans 367 

(When Pyrrhus heard that the Roman army had come Th e battle of 

. • , . , . , , , r 1 . Heraclea, 

into Lucania to oppose him, he marched forth to meet it at 280 B.C. 
Heraclea.) Learning that the Romans were near, and were 
encamping on the farther side of the river Siris, he rode 
down to the river to view them. When he saw their even 
ranks, their orderly movements, and their well-arranged 
camp, he was surprised, and said to the nearest of his 
friends, "These barbarians, Megacles, have nothing bar- 
barian in their military discipline, but we shall soon learn 
what they can do." 

He began already to feel some uncertainty as to the issue 
of the campaign, and determined to wait till his allies came 
up, and until then to watch the movements of the Romans 
and prevent their crossing the river. As they perceived his 
object, however, they quickly crossed the river, the in- 
fantry at a ford, the cavalry at many points at once, so 
that the Greeks, fearing that they might be surrounded, 
drew back. 

Perceiving the movement, Pyrrhus ordered his officers 
instantly to form the troops in order of battle and wait 
under arms while he himself charged with the cavalry, 
three thousand strong, for he hoped to catch the Romans 
in the act of crossing the river and consequently in disorder. 
When he saw many shields of the Roman infantry appear- 
ing over the river bank and their horsemen all ranged in 
order, he closed up his own ranks and charged them. He 
himself took the lead, a conspicuous figure in his beautiful 
glittering armor, and he proved by his exploits that he 
deserved his high reputation; for though he fought per- 
sonally and engaged in combat with the enemy, he con- 
tinually watched the whole battle, and handled his troops 
with as much facility as though he were not in the thick of 
the fight, appearing always where his presence was most 



368 



The Early Republic 



The 

embassy of 
Cineas. 

Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus, 14. 

Greece, 220; 
Ancient 
World, 241. 



needed and reenforcing those who seemed likely to give 
way. (Pyrrhus won a hard-fought battle.) 

There was a certain Cineas, a Thessalian, who was con- 
sidered a man of good judgment, and who having heard 
Demosthenes the orator speak, was better able than any of 
the speakers of his age to delight his hearers with an imita- 
tion of the eloquence of that great master of rhetoric. He 
was now in the service of Pyrrhus, and being sent about to 
various cities, proved true the proverb of Euripides that — 

All can be done by words 
Which foemen wish to do with conquering swords. 



Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus, 18. 



Appius 
Claudius 

Caecus. 

Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus, 18 f. 



Pyrrhus used to say that more cities were won for him 
by Cineas with words than he himself won by force of 
arms. . . . (Wishing to make peace with Rome,) Pyrrhus 
sent Cineas as ambassador to conduct the negotiations. 
He conversed with the leading men of Rome and offered 
their wives and children presents from the king. No one, 
however, would accept the gifts, but all, men and women 
alike, replied that if peace were publicly made with the 
king, they would then have no objection to regarding him 
as a friend. And when Cineas spoke before the senate in a 
winning and persuasive manner, he could make no impres- 
sion upon his audience. . . . The common people, how- 
ever, were evidently eager for peace, because they had 
been defeated in one great battle, and expected that they 
would have to fight another, — against a larger force, be- 
cause the Italian states would join Pyrrhus. 

At this crisis Appius Claudius (Caecus), an illustrious 
man, who had long been prevented by old age and blind- 
ness from taking an active part in politics, hearing of the 
proposals of Pyrrhus and learning that the question of 
peace or war was about to be voted upon in the senate, 



Italy for the Italians 369 

could no longer endure to stay at home, but caused his 
sons to carry him in a litter through the Forum to the 
senate-house. When he reached the doors of the senate- 
house, his sons and his sons-in-law supported him and 
guided him as he entered, while all the assembly observed 
a respectful silence. 

(He then spoke against the proposal to treat with Pyrrhus (Compare 
while this Epirot king remained in the peninsula. Italy roe doc- 
for the Italians was the new principle which he set forth. In tnne -") 
conclusion he said,) "Do not imagine that you will rid 
yourselves of this man by making a treaty with him. 
Rather you will encourage other Greek princes to invade 
you, for they will despise you and think you an easy prey 
to all men, if you let Pyrrhus go home again without pay- 
ing the penalty for his outrages upon you, nay with the 
power to boast that he has made Rome a laughing-stock 
for Tarentines and Samnites!" 

By his words Appius roused a warlike spirit in the 
Romans, and they dismissed Cineas with the answer that 
if Pyrrhus would leave Italy, they would if he wished dis- 
cuss the question of alliance with him, but that while ne 
remained in arms in their country, the Romans would 
fight him to the death. . . . 

After spending six years of constant fighting in Italy The failure 
and Sicily, Pyrrhus failed. During this time he lost a 
great part of his force, but always, even in his defeats, kept p yr rhus,\6. 
his reputation for invincible bravery. In warlike skill and 
personal strength and daring he was thought to be by far 
the first prince of his age. Yet he always threw away the 
advantages which he had gained, to follow some chimerical 
scheme of further conquest. He was unable to take proper 
measures for the present because of his eagerness for the 
future. 



370 The Early Republic 



STUDIES 

i. What were the provisions of the first treaty between Rome and 
Carthage? From this treaty what may we infer as to the relations 
between these states? as to their comparative power? What were the 
provisions of the treaty between Rome and Latium? Does the treaty 
represent the two powers as equal? 

2. Give an account of the Gallic invasion and of the sack of Rome. 

3. Write a biography of Pyrrhus, and describe his character. As 
a man and a general how does he compare with the most famous 
Romans? What was the character of the Tarentines? What were 
the leading traits in the character of Appius Claudius? How does 
his policy resemble our "Monroe doctrine"? 



CHAPTER XXXII 

ROMAN ORGANIZATION; PROGRESS IN CULTURE 

I. Municipia and Colonies 

The words municipes and municipia are very easily and Municipia 
very commonly uttered, and you never meet with a man distin- 
who uses them but he supposes that he clearly knows their s uished - 
meaning. Yet in truth one thing is meant and another Gdlius xvi . 
expressed; for how many of us are there who, coming from 
any Roman colony, do not call ourselves municipes, and World, 361 f. 
our countrymen municipes, which is very far from reason 
and the truth. So we are in the same manner ignorant of 
what and how great a difference there is between municipia 
and coloniae; and we are apt to suppose that colonies are 
more privileged than municipal towns. . . . The mu- 
nicipes in fact are persons who from the municipal towns 
are, in right of their municipality, Roman citizens, gov- 
erned by their own laws, and partakers of only privileges 
and offices with the Roman people. They appear to be so- 
called a munere capessendo ("from taking honors"); and 
they are bound by no compulsion or law of the Romans, 
except that they had placed themselves under the power 
of the latter. 

The Caerites, we learn, were the first who were made a Municipes 
municipal body without the power of voting; they were right to vote, 
permitted the honor of being called Roman citizens, but The position 
were exonerated from offices and burdens, on account of was i] } . fact 

one of m- 

their having recovered and protected sacred things in the feriority, not 
Gallic war; hence those were called "Lists of the Caerites," 

37i 



372 



Roman Organization 



Colonies. 



Definitions 
of Munici- 
pia. 

Festus 127. 



Organization 
of Latium 
and Campa- 
nia under 
Rome, 
338 B.C. 

Livy viii. 14. 



Ancient 
World, 356 f. 



upon which the censors ordered the names of those to be 
inscribed whom they deprived of their vote. But colonies 
stand in another relationship; they do not enter into the 
franchise from without, nor do they claim it by their 
origin, but they are, as it were, the offspring of the state, 
and are of necessity subject to the laws and institutes of 
the Romans; which condition, though it be more exposed 
and less free, is yet deemed more desirable and respectable, 
on account of the amplitude and majesty of the Roman 
people. 

A municipium is defined as that class of men, who when 
they came to Rome, were not Roman citizens but partici- 
pated with the Roman citizens in everything connected 
with the performance of duties, with the exception of vot- 
ing and holding office; such as were the people of Fundi, 
Formiae, Cumae, Acerrae, Lanuvium, and Tusculum, who 
after some years were made Roman citizens. A second 
definition applies the term to those whose entire state has 
come into the Roman citizenship, as Aricia, Caere, and 
Anagnia. Thirdly this class is defined as those who have 
entered the Roman state on condition of remaining mu- 
nicipes of their several states and colonies, as the people 
of Pisa, Urbinum, Nola, Bononia, Placentia, Nepete, 
Sutrium, and Luca. 

The principal members of the senate applauded the 
consul's statement of the business on the whole; but said 
that "as the states were differently circumstanced, the 
proposal might be readily adjusted so that it might be 
determined according to the desert of each, if they should 
put the question regarding each state specifically. The 
question was therefore so put regarding each separately 
and a decree passed. To the Lanuvians the right of citizen- 
ship was granted, and the exercise of their religious rights 



Organization of Latium 373 

was restored to them with this provision, that the temple 
and grove of Juno Sospita should be common between the 
Lanuvian burghers and the Roman people. The Aricians, Full Roman 

- _» , 1 • 1 ■ i i r citizenship. 

Nomentans, and Pedans were admitted into the number of 
citizens on the same terms as the Lanuvians. To the Tus- 
culans the rights of citizenship which they already pos- 
sessed were continued; and the crime of rebellion was 
turned . . . against a few instigators. On the Veliter- 
nians, Roman citizens of long standing, measures of great 
severity were inflicted because they had so often rebelled ; 
their walls were razed and their senate removed from Loss of all 
thence, and they were ordered to dwell on the other side of 
the Tiber, so that the fine of any individual who should 
be caught on the hither side of that river should amount 
to one hundred asses; and that the person who had appre- 
hended him, should not discharge his prisoner from con- 
finement, until the money was paid down. Into the land of 
the senators colonists were sent; from the additions of 
which Velitrae recovered its appearance of former popu- 
lousness. 

A new colony was also sent to Antium, with this provi- Antium, a 
sion that if the Antians desired to be enrolled as colonists, 
permission to that effect should be granted. Their ships 
of war were removed from thence, and the people of An- 
tium were interdicted the sea, and the rights of citizenship 
were granted them. The Tiburtians and Praenestines Tibur and 

Prscncstc 

were amerced in some land, not only on account of the free allies, 
recent guilt of the rebellion, which was common to them 
with the other Latins; but also because from their dislike 
to the Roman government, they had formerly associated 
in arms with the Gauls, a nation of savages. From the 
other Latin states they took away the privileges of inter- 
marriage, commerce, and of holding meetings. To the 



374 



Roman Organization 



Full citizen- 
ship again. 



The Rostra 
were conse- 
crated, hence 
a temple; the 
word means 
"beaks." 



Changes in 
armor, arms 
and organ- 
ization. 

Livy viii. 8. 

Ancient 
World, 365. 



The target 
was round; 
the shield 
oblong. 



In action. 



Campanians, in compliment to their horsemen, because 
they had refused to join in rebellion with the Latins, and 
to the Fundans and Formians, because the passage through 
their territories had always been secure and peaceful, the 
freedom of the state was granted with the right of suf- 
frage. It was determined that the people of Cumae and 
Suessula should have the same rights and be on the same 
footing as Capua. Of the ships of the Antians some were 
drawn up to the docks at Rome, some were burned, and 
with the prows of these the speakers' stand in the Forum 
was ordered to be decorated: and that temple was called 
Rostra. 

II. The Reformed Army 

The Romans formerly used targets; afterward when 
they began to receive pay, they made shields instead of 
targets; and what before constituted phalanxes similar to 
the Macedonian, afterward became a line drawn up in 
distinct companies. At length they were divided into 
several centuries. A century contained sixty soldiers, two 
centurions, and one standard-bearer. The spearmen 
(hastati) formed the first line in fifteen companies, with 
small intervals between them; a company had twenty 
light-armed soldiers, the rest wearing shields; those were 
called light who carried only a spear and short iron jave- 
lins. This division, which constituted the van in the field 
of battle, contained the youth in early bloom advancing 
toward the age of service. Next followed men of more 
robust age, in the same number of companies, who were 
called principes, all wearing shields, and distinguished by 
the completest armor. (Behind them came the triarii.) . . . 

When the army was marshalled according to this ar- 
rangement, the spearmen first commenced the fight. If 



The Army; Coinage 375 

they were unable to repulse the enemy, they retreated 
leisurely, and were received by the principes into the in- 
tervals of the ranks. The fight then devolved on the 
principes; the spearmen followed. The triarii continued 
kneeling behind the ensigns, their left leg extended for- 
ward, holding their shields resting on their shoulders, and 
their spears fixed in the ground, with the points erect, so 
that their line bristled as if enclosed by a rampart. If the 
principes also did not make sufficient impression in the 
fight, they retreated slowly from the front to the triarii. 
Hence when a difficulty is felt, "Matters have come to 
the triarii," became a' usual proverb. The triarii, rising 
up, after receiving the principes and spearmen into the 
intervals between their ranks, immediately closing their 
files, shut up as it were the openings; and in one compact 
body fell upon the enemy, no other hope being now left; 
that was the most formidable circumstance to the enemy, 
when, having pursued them as vanquished, they beheld a 
new line suddenly starting up, increased also in strength. 
In general about four legions were raised, each consisting 
of five thousand infantry and three hundred horse. As 
many more were added from the Latin levy. 

III. Some Aspects of Culture 
The next crime committed against the welfare of man- The earliest 



coins. 



kind was on the part of him who was the first to coin the 
denarius of gold, a crime the author of which is equally rdjiistory, 
unknown. The Roman people made no use of impressed xxxm - I3 - 
silver even before the period of the defeat of King Pyrrhus. 
The as of copper weighed exactly one pound. . . . 

Silver was not impressed with a mark until the year of 
the city 485, the year of the consulship of Q. Ogulnius and 269 B.C. 
C. Fabius, five years before the First Punic War; at that 



376 



Roman Organization 



Ancient 
World, 366 f. 

A denarius 
was worth 
about 20 
cents. The 
as, at first 
about 45 
cents, fell to 
2 cents; 
Botsford, 
Roman As- 
semblies, 87, 
n. 4. 



time it was ordained that the value of the denarius should 
be ten pounds of copper, that of the quinarius five pounds, 
and that of the sestertius two pounds and a half. The 
weight, however, of the copper "pound" was diminished 
during the First Punic War, the republic not having means 
to meet its expenditure: in consequence an ordinance was 
made that the as should in future be struck of two ounces 
weight. By this contrivance a saving of five-sixths was 
effected, and the public debt was liquidated. The impres- 
sion upon those copper coins was a two faced Janus on one 
side, and the beak of a ship of war on the other. 



The Appian 
Aqueduct 
and the 
Appian Way, 
312 B.C. 

Diodorus 
xx. 36. 



A stade 
(stadium) 
was 600 feet. 



There were two censors this year at Rome — Appius 
Claudius and Caius Plautius. With the concurrence of 
Plautius, Appius disturbed many matters of ancient wont 
and usage; for to gratify the people, he made no account 
of the senate. Also he constructed an aqueduct, named 
the Appian Aqueduct after himself, which brought water 
from regions 80 stades distant. On this he expended a 
great sum of money without the consent of the senate. 

Then he laid a causeway of hard stones from Rome to 
Capua a thousand stades and upward, and levelled it at 
great cost. This was called the Via Appia after him. In 
this way he drained the treasury. But by promoting the 
public good, he left behind him an everlasting monument. 



Early Italic 
painting. 

Pliny, Natu- 
ral History, 
xxxv. 6 f. 



But already in fact had the art of painting been per- 
fectly developed in Italy. At all events there are extant 
in the temples at Ardea at this day paintings of greater 
antiquity than Rome itself; in which in my opinion, noth- 
ing is more marvellous than that they should have re- 
mained so long unprotected by a roof, and yet preserve 
their freshness. At Lanuvium, too, it is the same, where 



Early Roman Art 377 

we see an Atalanta and a Helena, without drapery, close Paintings of 

, . . , , , • rr^i ii tne same age 

together and painted by the same artist. They are both and class are 
of the greatest beauty, the former being evidently the fJomEtrus-^ 
figure of a girl, and they still remain uninjured, though the can tombs; 
temple is in ruins. The Emperor Gaius, inflamed with World, 320 f. 
greed, attempted to have them removed, but the nature 
of the plaster would not admit of it. There are in exist- 
ence at Caere some paintings of a still higher antiquity. 
Whoever carefully examines them, will be forced to admit 
that no art has arrived more speedily at perfection, seeing 
that it was evidently not in existence at the time of the 
Trojan War. 

Among the Romans, too, this art very soon rose into Temple of 
esteem, for it was from it that the Fabii, a most illustrious (Safety), 
family, derived their surname of "Pictor;" indeed the 
first of the family who bore it himself painted the Temple 
of Salus, in the year of the city 450, a work which lasted 304 B.C. 
to our own times, but was destroyed when the temple 
was burnt, in the reign of Claudius. . . . 

Statues of this nature are still in existence at various Terra-cotta 
places. At Rome in fact and in our municipal towns, we 
still see many such pediments of temples; wonderful, too, ^%^ ^' 
for their workmanship and from their artistic merit and MXV - 46. 
long duration, more deserving of our respect than gold, 
and certainly far less baneful. At the present day, even in Very com- 

..,..,, . r , mon in early 

the midst of such wealth as we possess, we make our first R 0m e and 
libation at the sacrifice, not from vessels of murrhine or Etruna - 
crystal, but from ladles made of earthenware. 

Another instance of the severe discipline of this office is The severe 

r 11 m i 1-1 1 /• • discipline of 

as follows: There was a deliberation about fining a man, the censors, 
who was being called by his friend before the censors. Gellius iv. 
Whilst expecting their decision he yawned clearly and 2 °- 



378 



Roman Organization 



Roman 
women do 
not drink 
wine. 

Gellius x. 23. 



aloud; and he was about to be fined, this being considered 
as a proof of an indolent and careless temper, and of a rude 
and impertinent confidence. But when he swore that his 
yawning was reluctant and involuntary, and that he was 
afflicted with the disease termed the gapes, he was ac- 
quitted of his intended fine. 

The writers on the food and dress of the Romans inform 
us that the women of Rome and Latium lived abstemiously; 
that is, they abstained from wine. ... It was appointed 
by law, that they should kiss their relations, that it might 
be discovered by their breath whether they had been 
drinking. But they relate that the women were accus- 
tomed to drink the second brewing, raisin wine, sweet 
myrrh, and other sweet beverages of that taste. And 
these things are published in the books I mentioned. But 
Marcus Cato says that women were not only censored but 
fined, if they had been drinking wine. 

STUDIES 

1. O/i the basis of these passages classify the municipia, and dis- 
tinguish them from colonies. What was the status of each com- 
munity mentioned in Livy viii. 14? 

2. Describe the organization and movements of the reformed army. 

3. Describe the earliest coins; the early Italic paintings. From 
the selections from Gellius what may we infer as to the severity of 
the censors? the life of women? 






ing up to this 
invasion, see 
Rome, 99; 
Ancient 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS 

I. The Story of Regulus 

Early in the Sicilian war the Romans sent three hundred Regulus in 
and fifty ships to Africa, captured many towns, and left in 
command of the army Atilius Regulus, who took about two pj^jj n ' 
hundred more towns, which gave themselves up to him on WJwv, 3. 

. (ror the 

account of their hatred of the Carthaginians. Continually events lead- 
advancing, the Roman general ravaged the country. 
Thereupon the Carthaginians, considering their misfortune 
due to bad generalship, asked the Lacedaemonians to send World, 370-3. 
them a commander. 

They sent Xanthippus. Regulus, encamped in the hot 
season by the side of a lake, marched round it to engage the 
enemy. His soldiers were suffering greatly from the weight 
of their arms, from dust, thirst, and fatigue, and were ex- 
posed to missiles from the neighboring hills. Toward even- 
ing he came to a river which separated the two armies. 
This he crossed at once, for he thought in this way to 
terrify Xanthippus; but the Lacedaemonian, anticipating 
an easy victory over an enemy thus harassed and ex- 
hausted, took advantage of the night to draw up his forces 
and make a sudden sally from the camp. The expectation 
of Xanthippus was not disappointed. Of the thirty thou- 
sand men led by Regulus, a few only escaped with difficulty 
to the city of Aspis. All the rest were either killed or taken 
prisoners; and among the captives was the consul Regulus 
himself. 

379 



380 The First and Second Punic Wars 



The 

embassy of 
Regulus. 

Appian, 
Punic 
Wars, 4. 



Not long afterward the Carthaginians, weary with 
fighting, sent him in company with other ambassadors to 
Rome to obtain peace, or to return if it were not granted. 
But Regulus in private strongly urged the chief magis- 
trates of Rome to continue the war, and then went back 
to certain torture; for the Carthaginians shut him up in a 
cage full of spikes and in this way put him to death. 



Hamilcar 
Barca (the 
Lightning). 

Polybius i. 
56. 

(For the 
places here 
mentioned, 
see map, 
Rome, 1; 
Ancient 
World, 313.) 



II. Hamilcar Barca 

In the eighteenth year of the war the Carthaginians 
appointed Hamilcar Barca general, and put the manage- 
ment of the fleet in his hands. He took over the command 
and began to ravage the Italian coast. After devastating 
the district of Locri and the rest of Bruttium, he sailed 
away with his whole fleet to the coast of Panormus and 
seized a place called Ercte, which lies between Eryx and 
Panormus on the coast, and is reputed the best situation in 
the district for a safe and permanent camp. For it is a 
mountain rising sheer on every side, standing out above 
the surrounding country to a considerable height. The 
tableland on its summit has a circumference of not less 
than a hundred stades, within which the soil is rich in 
pasture and suitable for agriculture. The sea breezes 
render it healthful, and it is entirely free from dangerous 
animals. 

On the side which looks toward the sea, as well as that 
which faces the interior of the island, it is enclosed by in- 
accessible precipices; while the spaces between these parts 
require only slight fortifications, and of no great extent, to 
make them secure. On it is an eminence which serves at 
once as an acropolis and as a convenient tower of observa- 
tion, commanding the surrounding district. It is also sup- 



Hamilcar 381 

plied with a harbor, conveniently situated for the passage 
from Drepana and Lilybaeum to Italy, in which is always 
an abundant depth of water. Finally the height can be 
reached by three ways only — two from the land side and 
one from the sea, and all of them difficult. 

Here Hamilcar intrenched himself. It was a bold meas- His wonder- 
ure; but he had no city which he could count upon as 
friendly, and no other hope on which he could rely; and 
though by so doing he placed himself in the very midst of 
the enemy, he nevertheless managed to involve the Romans 
in many struggles and dangers. To begin with, he would 
start from this place and ravage the seaboard of Italy as 
far as Cumae; and again on shore, when the Romans had 
pitched a camp to overawe him, in front of the city of 
Panormus within about five stades of him, he harassed 
them in every way, and forced them to engage in numerous 
skirmishes for the space of nearly three years. Of these 
combats it is impossible to give a detailed account in 



Presently however Fortune, acting like a good umpire in °, n * he slop€ 
the games, transferred him by a bold stroke from the Eryx. 
locality just described and from the contest in which he Poiybiusi. 
was engaged, to a struggle of greater danger and to a local- s8 - 
ity of narrower dimensions. The Romans were occupying 
the summit of Eryx, and had a guard stationed at its foot. 
But Hamilcar managed to seize the town which lay be- 
tween these two spots. 

There ensued a siege by the Romans who were on the 
summit, supported by them with extraordinary hardihood 
and adventurous daring. The Carthaginians found them- 
selves between two hostile armies, and their supplies 
brought to them with difficulty because they communi- 
cated with the sea at only one point and by one road; yet 



382 The First and Second Punic Wars 

they held out with a determination that passes belief. 
Every contrivance which skill or force could sustain did 
they put in » use against each other, as before; every im- 
aginable privation was submitted to ; surprises and pitched 
battles were alike tried; and finally they left the combat 
a drawn one . . . like men still unbroken and uncon- 
quered. . . . The two nations engaged were like well-bred 
game-cocks which fight to their last gasp. You may see 
them often, when too weak to use their wings, yet full of 
pluck to the end, and striking again and again. Finally 
chance brings them the opportunity of once more grap- 
pling, and they hold on till one or the other of them drops 
dead. 
241 B.C. (At last the Romans destroyed the Carthaginian fleet, 

whereupon Hamilcar, from his post on Mount Eryx, came 
to terms of peace with the enemy. Immediately a war 
broke out between Carthage and her unpaid mercenaries. 
By crushing the mutineers, Hamilcar brought this mer- 
cenary war, or "Libyan war," to an end.) 
Hamilcar As soon as they had brought the Libyan War to a conclu- 

Spain. sio n > the Carthaginians collected an army and despatched 

it under the command of Hamilcar to Iberia (Spain). This 
general took over the command of the troops, and with his 
son Hannibal, then nine years old, crossing by the Pillars of 
Hercules, set about recovering the Carthaginian posses- 
sions in Iberia. He spent nine years there, and after 
reducing many Iberian tribes by war or diplomacy to Car- 
thaginian rule, he died in a manner worthy of his great 
achievements; for he lost his life in a battle against the 
most warlike and most powerful tribes. In this last fight 
he showed a brilliant and even reckless personal daring. 



Polybiusii. 1. 



Hannibal 383 

III. The Battle of Lake Trasimene; the Greatness 
of Hannibal 

(Early in the spring Hannibal crossed the Apennines The battle 

r\4 T air a 

into Etruria and marched along the highway toward Trasimene, 
Rome. Flaminius, one of the consuls, followed close be- 2I7 BC- 
hind with an army.) d wc fe n/ 

. World, 383. 

The Carthaginians now reached a place formed by na- 
ture for an ambuscade, where Lake Trasimene comes 
nearest to Mount Cortona. A very narrow passage only Livy xxii. 4. 
intervenes, as though room enough had been left just for 
that purpose. Then a somewhat wider plain opens, and 
still farther some hills rise up. On these heights Hannibal 
pitched his camp in full view, where he posted his Spaniards 
and Africans under his own command. The Baleares and (Slingers 
his other light troops he had ranged round the mountain; Baleares 
his cavalry he posted at the very entrance of the defile — Islan ds.) 
conveniently hidden behind some rising ground — in order 
that when the Romans had entered, the horsemen might 
advance and every place be closed by the lake and the 
mountain. Flaminius passed the defile before it was 
quite daylight. He did not previously reconnoitre, though 
he had reached the lake the preceding day at sunset. 

When the troops began to spread into the wider plain, The Romans 

arp SUX~ 

the commander saw that part only of the enemy which rounded, 
was opposite him; the ambuscade in his rear and overhead 
escaped his notice. And when Hannibal had his enemy 
enclosed by the lake and mountain, and surrounded by 
his troops, he gave the signal for all at the same time to 
charge, whereupon each began to run down the nearest 
way. To the Romans the event was all the more sudden 
and unexpected because of a mist which had risen from the 
lake, and was settling thicker on the plain than on the 



384 The First and Second Punic Wars 



The begin- 
ning of the 
fight. 



The consul. 
Livy xxii. 5. 



Confusion. 



A desperate 
struggle. 



ridge. For this reason the Punic troops ran down from the 
various heights in fair sight of one another and therefore 
with greater regularity. 

As the battle-cry rose on all sides, the Romans found 
themselves surrounded before they could well see the 
enemy; and the attack on the front and flank had begun 
before their line could be well formed, their arms prepared 
for action, or their swords unsheathed. 

Though all the rest were in a panic, the consul faced the 
peril undaunted. As the men turned toward the various 
shouts, they threw the line into confusion, but Flaminius 
marshalled them as well as time and place permitted. 
Wherever he came within hearing, he encouraged them, 
and bade them stand and fight. "We can escape," he 
cried, "not by vows and prayers to the gods but by courage 
and energy. Let us hew our way with the sword through 
the midst of their marshalled battalions — the less the fear 
the less the danger!" 

But in the noise and tumult the men heard not his ad- 
vice and command; and so far were they from knowing 
their own standards and ranks and position, that they 
hardly had enough courage to take arms and make ready 
for battle. Some, surprised before they could don their 
armor, were burdened rather than protected by it. In the 
thick darkness there was more use for ears than for eyes. 
Vainly peering in every direction, they could only hear the 
groans of the dying, the clash of blows upon armor, the 
mingled clamor of threats and fear. Some in their flight 
ran into bands of fighters; others renewing the struggle 
were turned back by crowds of runaways. 

In vain the Romans charged in every direction, there 
was no hope of escape; for on their flanks the mountain 
and lake, on the front and rear the lines of the enemy en- 



The Battle of Lake Trasimene 385 

compassed them. As they saw their only safety lay in the 
right hand and the sword, each man became his own leader 
and encouraged to action, and an entirely new struggle 
arose, — not in a regular line of battle, with principes, (The three 
hastati, and triarii, nor of such a sort as when the vanguard heavy in- 
fights before the standards and the rest of the troops be- ^7' <;• 
hind them, nor when each soldier stands in his own legion, Ancient 
cohort and company; chance collected them into bands; 
and each man's will assigned him his post, to fight in front 
or rear. So great was the ardor of battle, so intent were 
their minds upon the fray, that not one of the combatants 
felt an earthquake which threw down large parts of many 
Italian cities, turned rivers from their rapid courses, carried 
the sea up into rivers, and levelled mountains with a tre- 
mendous crash. 

Nearly three hours the battle raged, and in every quarter Fiaminius 
fiercely; around the consul it was hottest and most deter- 
mined. With the strongest of his troops he promptly lvy XX11 ' 6 ' 
brought assistance wherever he saw his men hard pressed 
or worried. Knowing him by his armor, the enemy at- 
tacked him furiously, while his countrymen defended him. 
Finally an Insubrian horseman named Ducarius, recog- 
nizing his face, said to his fellows, "Lo, this is the consul (He had de- 
who slew our legions and laid waste our fields and cities. anVhad con- 
Now will I offer this victim to the shades of my country- ^ountr their 
men miserably slain!" and putting spurs to his horse, he 223 B.C.) 
dashed through a dense throng of the enemy. First he 
killed the consul's armor-bearer, who had opposed himself 
to the attack; then he ran the consul through with a lance. 
The veterans, by opposing their shields, kept him from 
despoiling the body. 

Then for the first time many took to flight. Neither Flight, 
lake nor mountain could now check their hurried retreat; 



386 The First and Second Punic Wars 

they ran over steep and narrow ways, as though they were 
blind; arms and men tumbled upon one another. Finding 
nowhere else to run, many retreating first into the shallow 
water along the shore, plunged farther in till only their 
heads and shoulders reached above. Some thoughtlessly 
tried to escape by swimming; but as the attempt failed, 
they lost courage and were drowned in the deep water; or 
wearied to no purpose, they made their way with extreme 
difficulty back to the shallows, — only to be cut down by 
the cavalry of the enemy, who had waded into the water. 
Nearly six thousand men in the van gallantly forced 
their way through the opposing enemy, and without know- 
ing what was happening in the rear, escaped from the de- 
file. Stopping on a certain height, and hearing naught 
but the shouts and the clash of arms, they could not 
through the mist discover what was the fortune of the 
battle. 

An army de- At length the contest was decided; and when the increas- 
strove d 

ing heat of the sun had dispelled the mist and cleared the 

air, — then in the bright light the mountains and the plains 

displayed the ruin of the Roman army. 

This is the famous battle of Lake Trasimene, recorded 
among the few disasters of Rome. Fifteen thousand 
Romans were killed in the struggle. Ten thousand, who 
had scattered in flight through all Etruria, returned to the 
city by various roads. A thousand five hundred of the 
enemy perished. 

(Next year Hannibal inflicted a still more terrible defeat 

upon the Romans at Cannae; and though this was his last 

brilliant victory, he maintained himself in Italy many 

201 B.C. years. Finally he had to return to Carthage and make 

peace with Rome.) 

Who could help admiring this great man's strategic 



The Character of Hannibal 387 

skill, courage, and ability, when one looks to the length The great- 
of time during which he displayed those qualities, and Hannibal, 
realizes to one's self the pitched battles, the skirmishes p i y bius xi. 
and sieges, the revolutions and counter-revolutions of IQ - 
states, the vicissitudes of fortune, and in fact the whole 
course of his design and its execution? 

For sixteen continuous years Hannibal maintained the 
war with Rome in Italy, without once releasing his army 
from service in the field, but keeping those vast numbers 
under control, like a good pilot, without any sign of dis- 
satisfaction toward himself or toward one another. This 
he did in spite of the fact that the troops in his service, 
so far from being of the same tribe, were not even of the 
same race. He had Libyans, Iberians, Ligurians, Celts, 
Phoenicians, Italians, and Greeks, w T ho naturally had 
nothing in common with one another, — neither laws nor 
customs nor language. Yet the skill of the commander 
was such that these differences, so manifold and so wide, 
did not disturb obedience to one word of command and 
to a single will. 

And yet circumstances were not by any means unvary- 
ing; for though the breeze of fortune set strongly in his 
favor, it as often blew adversely. We have therefore good 
ground for admiring Hannibal's display of ability in war; 
and we should not hesitate to say that had he reserved 
his attack upon the Romans until he had first subdued 
other parts of the world, not one of his projects would 
have eluded his grasp. As it was, he began with those 
whom he should have attacked last, and with them ac- 
cordingly he began and ended his career. 



388 The First and Second Punic Wars 



STUDIES 

1. Give Appian's account of Regulus and Xanthippus. Compare 
the account given in Rome, ioo; Ancient World, 373 f (from Polybius). 
What is Polybius' estimate of the value of history as illustrated by 
the fate of these two generals? From the maps (Rome, 1, 95; Ancient 
World, 313, 371) describe the location of Sicily, Ecnomus, Messene, 
Mount Ercte, Panormus, Mount Eryx, Lilybaeum, Drepana, the 
yEgatian Islands, Carthaginian Libya, and Spain (Iberia). 

2. Write a biography of Hamilcar Barca, including a description 
of his character. 

3. Write a biography of Hannibal, and describe his character. 
Whose character in the Second Punic War was the more admirable, 
that of Hannibal or that of the Romans? Would the success of Han- 
nibal have benefited the world? 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE END OF GREEK FREEDOM 

I. The Depopulation of Greece 

In our time all Greece was visited by a dearth of chil- The families 
dren, and generally a decay of population, owing to which small, 
the cities were denuded of inhabitants, and a failure p i y bius 
of productiveness resulted, though there were no long- xxxvu - 9- 
continued wars or serious pestilences among us. If, then, 
any one had advised our sending to ask the gods in regard 
to what we were to do or say in order to become more 
numerous and better fill our cities, — would he not have 
seemed a futile person, when the cause was manifest and 
the cure in our own hands? For this evil grew upon us 
rapidly, and without attracting attention, by our men 
becoming perverted to a passion for show and money 
and the pleasures of an idle life, and accordingly either not 
marrying at all, or if they did marry, refusing to rear the 
children that were born, or at most one or two out of a 
great number, for the sake of leaving them well off or 
bringing them up in extravagant luxury. For when there 
are only one or two sons, it is evident that, if war or pesti- 
lence carries off one, the houses must be left heirless; and 
like swarms of bees, little by little the cities become 
sparsely inhabited and weak. On this subject there is 
no need to ask the gods how we are to be relieved from 
such a curse; for any one in the world will tell you that it 
is by the men themselves if possible changing their ob- 
jects of ambition; or, if that cannot be done, by passing 

389 



390 The End of Greek Freedom 

laws for the preservation of children. On this subject 
there is no need of seers or of prodigies. 

II. The Misery of the Fall 

The greatest My thirty-eighth book embraces the consummation 
nusfortunes. °f tne misfortunes of Greece. For though Greece as a 
Polybius whole, as well as separate parts of it, has on several occa- 
xxxviii. 3. sions sustained grave disasters, yet to none of her previous 
defeats could the word "misfortune" be more properly 
applied than to those which have befallen her in our times. 
For it is not only that the sufferings of Greece excite com- 
passion; stronger still is the conviction, which a knowledge 
of the truth of the several occurrences must bring, that 
in all she undertook she was supremely unfortunate. At 
any rate though the disaster of Carthage is looked upon 
as of the severest kind, yet one cannot but regard that 
of Greece as not less, and in some respects even more so: 
For the Carthaginians at any rate left something for 
posterity to say in their behalf; but the mistakes of the 
Greeks were so glaring, that they made it impossible for 
those who wished to support them to do so. Besides, the 
destruction of the Carthaginians was immediate and total, 
so that they had no feelings afterward of their disasters; 
but the Greeks, with their misfortunes ever before their 
eyes, handed down to their children's children the loss 
of all that was once theirs. And in proportion as we 
regard those who live in pain as more pitiable than those 
who lose their lives at the moment of their misfortunes, 
in that proportion must the disasters of the Greeks be re- 
garded as more pitiable than those of the Carthaginians, 
— unless a man thinks nothing of dignity and honor, and 
gives his opinion from a regard only to material advantage. 
They displayed at once want of good faith and want of 



The Historian's Duty 391 

courage, brought upon themselves a series of disgraces, The 

lost all that could bring them honor, and voluntarily ad- were C re^ S 

mitted into their towns the Roman fasces and axes. They s P° nsible - 

were in the utmost panic, owing; in fact to the extravagance Pol yb.! us 

r ° ° xxxvm. 5. 

of their own wrongful acts, if one ought to call them their 
own; for I should rather say that the peoples as such were 
entirely ignorant, and were beguiled from the path of 
right; but that the men who acted wrongly were the au- 
thors of this delusion. 

In regard to these men, it should not be a matter of The first 
surprise if we leave for a while the ordinary method and historian is 
spirit of our narrative to give a clearer and more elaborate JJ?uth U the 
exposition of their character. I am aware that some may 
be found regarding it as their first duty to cast a veil over 
the errors of the Greeks, to accuse us of writing in a spirit O n 5 of them, 
of malevolence. But for myself, I conceive that with the subject 
right-minded persons a man will never be regarded as a slcdo^^ 1 
true friend who shrinks from and is afraid of plain speech, 
nor indeed as a good citizen who abandons the truth be- 
cause of the offence he will give to certain persons at the 
time. But a writer of public history above all deserves 
no indulgence whatever, who regards anything of superior 
importance to truth. For in proportion as written his- 
tory reaches larger numbers, and survives for longer time, 
than words spoken to suit an occasion, the writer ought 
to be still more particular about truth, and his readers 
ought to admit his authority only so far as he adheres 
to this principle. At the actual hour of danger it is only 
right that Greeks should help Greeks in every possible 
way, by protecting them, veiling their errors or deprecat- He did all he 
ing the wrath of the sovereign people; and this I genuinely hi" country? 
did for my part at the actual time: but it is also right, in 
regard to the record of events to be transmitted to pos- 



truth. 
lb. 6. 



men. 



39 2 



The End of Greek Freedom 



terity, to leave them unmixed with any falsehood: so that 
readers should not be merely gratified for the moment 
by a pleasant tale, but should receive in their souls a les- 
son, which will prevent a repetition of similar errors in 
the future. Enough however, on this subject. . . . 



Critolaus 
stirs up the 
Greeks 
against 
Rome. 

Polybius 
xxxviii. 9. 



Ancient 
World, 304, 
392 f. 



The Romans 
again at- 
tempt ne- 
gotiations. 

Polyb. 
xxxviii. 10. 



III. Outbreak of the Achaean War 

A Roman commission attempted to conduct negotiations with 
Critolaus, general of the Achaean League who was to act in conjunc- 
tion with the Lacedaemonians for the settlement of some misunder- 
standings. By his arbitrary conduct, however, Critolaus brought 
the negotiations to naught and thus greatly offended the Romans. 
The following extract is an account of his subsequent conduct. 

Critolaus spent the winter in visiting the cities and 
holding assemblies in them, on the pretext that he wished 
to inform them of what he had said to the Lacedaemonians 
at Tegea, but in reality to denounce the Romans and to 
put an evil interpretation on everything they said; by 
these means he inspired the common people in the various 
cities with feelings of hostility and hatred for them. At 
the same time he sent round orders to the magistrates not 
to exact money from debtors, nor to receive prisoners 
arrested for debt, and to cause loans on pledge to be held 
over until the war was decided. By this kind of appeal 
to the interests of the vulgar everything he said was re- 
ceived with confidence; and the common people were 
ready to obey any order he gave, being incapable of tak- 
ing thought for the future, but caught by the bait of im- 
mediate indulgence and relief. 

When Quintus Caecilius Metellus heard in Macedonia 
of the commotion and disturbance going on in the Pelo- 
ponnese, he despatched thither his legates Gnaeus Papirius 
and the younger Popilius Laenas, along with Aulus Gabinius 



Roman Envoys Insulted 393 

and Gauis Fannius; they, happening to arrive when the 
congress was assembled at Corinth, were introduced to 
the assembly, and delivered a long and conciliatory speech, 
much in the spirit of that of Sextus Julius, exerting them- 
selves with great zeal to prevent the Achaeans from pro- 
ceeding to an open breach with Rome, either on a pretext 
of their grievance against the Lacedaemonians, or from any 
feeling of anger against the Romans themselves. But 
the assembled people would not hear them; insulting words 
were loudly uttered against the envoys, and in the midst 
of a storm of yells and tumult they were driven from the 
assembly. The fact was that such a crowd of workmen 
and artisans had been got together as had never been 
collected before; for all the cities were in a state of drivel- 
ling folly, and above all the Corinthians en masse; and 
there were only a very few who heartily approved of the 
words of the envoys. 

Critolaus, conceiving that he had attained his purpose, 
in the midst of an audience as excited and mad as himself 
began attacking the magistrates, abusing all who were 
opposed to him, and openly defying the Roman envoys, 
saying that he was desirous of being a friend of the Romans, 
but had no taste for them as his masters. And finally he 
tried to incite the people by saying that, if they acquitted 
themselves like men, they would have no lack of allies; 
but if they betrayed womanish fears, they would not want 
for masters. By many other such words to the same 
effect, conceived in the spirit of a charlatan and huckster, 
he roused and excited the populace. . . . 

Having carried these measures, he began intriguing to Critolaus 
bring on an outbreak and cause an attack upon the Roman tack on the 
envoys. He had no pretext for doing this; but adopted a env °y s - 
course, which of all possible courses, offends most fla- Ib - "• 



394 The End of Greek Freedom 

grantly against the laws of gods and man. The envoys 
however separated; Gnaeus Papirius went to Athens and 
thence to Sparta to watch the turn of events; Aulus 
Gabinius went to Naupactus ; and the other two remained 
at Athens, waiting for the arrival of Caecilius Metellus. 
This was the state of things in the Peloponnese. 



Overthrow 
of the 

Achaeans. 

Pausanias 
vii. 16. 



Mummius 
commands 
the Romans. 



Ancient 
World, 392 f. 



IV. The Decisive Battle 

Meantime Mummius, and with him Orestes, who was 
first sent from Rome to settle the disputes between the 
Lacedaemonians and Achaeans, reached the Roman army 
one morning, took over the command, and sent Metellus 
and his forces back to Macedonia, and himself waited at 
the Isthmus till he had concentrated all his troops. His 
cavalry amounted to 3,500 and his infantry to 22,000. 
There were also some Cretan bowmen, and Philopcemen 
had brought some soldiers from Attalus, from Pergamus 
across the Calais. Mummius placed some of the Italian 
troops and allies, so as to be an advanced post for all his 
army, 12 stades in the van. And the Achaeans, as this 
vanguard was left without defence through the confidence 
of the Romans, attacked them, and slew some, but drove 
still more back to the camp, and captured about 500 shields. 
By this success the Achaeans were so elated that they 
attacked the Roman army without waiting for them to 
begin the battle. But when Mummius led out his army 
to battle in turn, then the Achaean cavalry, which was 
opposite the Roman cavalry, ran immediately, not ven- 
turing to make one stand against the attack of the enemy's 
cavalry. And the infantry, though dejected at the rout 
of the cavalry, stood their ground against the wedge-like 
attack of the Roman infantry, and though out-numbered 



Destruction of Corinth 395 

and fainting under their wounds, yet resisted bravely 
till 1,000 picked men of the Romans took them in flank, 
and so turned the battle into a complete rout of the 
Achaeans. And had Diaeus been bold enough to hurry Diams had 

succeeded 

into Corinth after the battle, and to receive within its critoiaus. 
walls the runaways from the fight and shut himself up 
there, the Achaeans might have obtained better terms from 
Mummius, if the war had been lengthened out by a siege. 
But as it was, when the Achaeans gave way before the 
Romans, Diaeus fled for Megalopolis. . . . Diaeus after 
ruining the Achaeans announced to the people of Megalo- 
polis their impending ruin, and after slaying his wife with 
his own hand that she might not become a captive, took 
poison and so died. . . . 

And most of those that were left in the city were slain The sack 
by the Romans, and the women and children were sold by Corinth. 
Mummius, as also were the slaves who had been manu- 
mitted and had fought on the side of the Achaeans, and 
had not been killed in action. And the most wonderful 
of the votive offerings and other ornaments he carried 
off to Rome, and those of less value he gave to Philopoe- 
men, the general of Attalus' troops, and these spoils from 
Corinth were in my time at Pergamum. And Mummius 
razed the walls of all the cities which had fought against 
the Romans, and took away their arms, before any ad- 
visers were sent out to him from Rome. And when they 
arrived, then he put down all democracies, and appointed 
chief -magistrates according to property qualifications. 
And taxes were laid upon Greece, and those who had Ancient 

World, 393 i. 

money were forbidden to have land over the borders, 
and all the general meetings were put down altogether, 
as those in Achaia, or Phocis, or Bceotia, or any other part 
of Greece. 



396 The End of Greek Freedom 



STUDIES 

i. What was the cause of the depopulation of Greece? What was 
done with children whom the father refused to bring up? What did 
Polybius consider the remedy for the evil? 

2. What comment does he make on the fall of Greece? Whom 
does he consider responsible? How did his duty as historian differ 
from his duty as statesman? What in his opinion is one of the vices 
of history? 

3. What were the character and policy of Critolaus? Were the 
Greeks or the Romans chiefly responsible for the Achaean War? 
Give your reasons. 

4. Describe the decisive battle. How did the Romans treat the 
vanquished? What was done to Corinth? 



CHAPTER XXXV 

GROWTH OF PLUTOCRACY; PROGRESS IN 
CIVILIZATION 

I. Government 
The Roman government has three factors, each of them The three 

1,1. , • r r factors or 

possessing sovereign power; and their respective shares of « estates" 
power in the whole state have been regulated with such e[nment° V " 
scrupulous regard to equality and balance that no one can 

^ . J . Polvbius vi. 

say for certain, not even a native, whether the constitution n. 
as a whole is an aristocracy or democracy or despotism. 
And no wonder: for if we confine our observation to the Ancient 
power of the consuls, we should be inclined to regard it as 401-3.' 
despotic; if to that of the senate, as aristocratic; and if 
finally one looks at the power possessed by the people, it 
would seem a clear case of democracy. What the exact 
powers of these several parts were, and still with slight 
modifications are, I will now state. 

Before leading out the legions, the consuls remain at I. The con- 
Rome and are supreme masters of the administration. All 
other magistrates except the tribunes (of the plebs) are I2 oy 1USV1 ' 
under them and take their orders. They introduce foreign 
ambassadors to the senate, bring before it matters requir- 
ing deliberation, and see to the execution of its decrees. 
If again there are any matters of state which require rati- 
fication by the people, it is their business to attend to these 
affairs, to summon the popular meetings, to bring the pro- 
posals before the assembly, and to carry out the decrees 
of the majority. 

397 



39§ 



Growth of Plutocracy 



Their 
powers in 



II. The sen- 
ate. 

Polybius vi. 
13- 



{Lustrum, 
lustration, 
the ceremony 
of purifica- 
tion at the 
close of the 
census- 
taking; 
hence the 
period from 
one census 
to another.) 

Its powers 
in Italy. 



In the preparations for war, too, and briefly in the entire 
management of a campaign, they have all but absolute 
power. It is their right to impose on the allies such levies 
as they think good, to appoint the military tribunes, to 
make up the roll of soldiers, and to select those who are 
suitable. Besides they have absolute power of inflicting 
punishment on all who are under their command while in 
active service; and they have authority to expend as much 
of the public money as they choose, for they are accom- 
panied by a quaestor who is entirely at their orders. A 
survey of these powers would in fact justify our describing 
the constitution as despotic, — a clear case of royal govern- 
ment. Nor will it affect the truth of my description, if 
any of the institutions I have described are changed in 
our time, or in that of our posterity. The same remarks 
apply to what follows. 

The senate first of all controls the treasury, and regulates 
the receipts and disbursements alike. For the quaestors 
cannot issue any public money for the various departments 
of the state without a decree of the senate, except for the 
service of the consuls. The senate controls also what is by 
far the largest and most important expenditure, — that 
which is made by the censors every lustrum for the repair 
or construction of public buildings; this money cannot be 
obtained by the censors except by the grant of the senate. 

Similarly all crimes committed in Italy requiring a public 
investigation, such as treason, conspiracy, poisoning, or 
wilful murder, are in the hands of the senate. Besides if 
any individual or state among the Italian allies requires a 
controversy to be settled, a penalty to be assessed, help or 
protection to be afforded, — all this is the province of the 
senate. Or again outside Italy, if it is necessary to send 
an embassy to reconcile warring communities, or to remind 



The Senate and the People 399 

them of their duty, or sometimes to impose requisitions 
upon them, or to receive their submission, or finally to 
proclaim war against them, — this too is the business of 
the senate. 

In like manner the reception given to foreign ambassa- Its powers 
dors at Rome, and the answers to be returned to them, are a ffairs. lgn 
decided by the senate. With such business the people 
have nothing to do. Consequently if one were staying 
at Rome when the consuls were not in town, one would 
imagine the constitution to be a complete aristocracy; 
and this has been the idea entertained by many Greeks, 
and by many kings as well, from the fact that nearly all 
the business they had with Rome was settled by the 
senate . 

After this discussion one would naturally be inclined to III. The 
ask what part in the constitution is left for the people, peop e " 
when the senate has these various functions, especially P^ 1115 ™- 
the control of the receipts and expenditures of the treasury, 
and again when the consuls have absolute power over the 
details of military preparations and an absolute author- 
ity in the field? There is however a part left for the people, 
and it is a most important one. For the people are the 
sole fountain of honor and of punishment; and it is by 
these two powers and these alone that dynasties and con- 
stitutions and, in a word, human society are held together. 
For where the distinction between them is not sharply 
drawn both in theory and practice, there no undertaking 
can be properly administered, — as indeed we might expect 
when good and bad are held in exactly the same honor. 

The people then are the only court to decide matters of Thei . r power 
life and death; and even in cases where the penalty is 
money, if the sum to be assessed is sufficiently serious, and 
especially when the accused have held the higher magis- 



400 



Growth of Plutocracy 



In elections, 
legislation, 
and foreign 
affairs. 



Relations of 
these three 
parts, or 
estates, to 
one another. 



The har- 
mony and 
strength of 
the constitu- 
tion. 

Polybius vi. 
18. 



trades. And in regard to this arrangement there is one 
point deserving especial commendation and record. Men 
who are on trial for their lives at Rome, while sentence is 
in process of being voted, — if one tribe only whose vote 
is needed to ratify the sentence has not voted, — have the 
privilege of openly departing and condemning themselves 
to voluntary exile. Such men are safe at Naples or 
Praeneste or at Tibur, or at other town with which this 
arrangement has been duly ratified on oath. 

Again, it is the people who bestow offices — the most 
honorable rewards of virtue — on the deserving. They 
have too the absolute power of passing or repealing laws; 
and most important of all, it is the people who deliberate 
on the questions of peace or war. And when provisional 
terms are made for alliance, suspension of hostilities, or 
treaties, it is the people who ratify or reject them. 

These considerations again would lead one to say that 
the chief power in the state is the people's, and that the 
constitution is a democracy. 

Such then is the distribution of power among the several 
parts of the government. I must now show how these 
several parts can oppose or support one another as they 
choose. . . . 

The result of this power of the several estates for mutual 
help or harm is a union sufficiently firm for all emergencies, 
and the best possible form of government. For whenever 
any danger from without compels these estates to unite 
and work together, the strength which is developed by 
the state is so extraordinary that everything required is 
unfailingly carried out by the eager rivalry of all classes 
to devote their whole minds to the need of the hour, and 
to make sure that any resolution agreed upon should not 
fail for want of promptness; while each individual, alike 



Governmental Balances; Religion 401 

in private and public, works for the accomplishment of 
the business in hand. The peculiar constitution accord- 
ingly makes the state irresistible, and certain of obtaining 
whatever it attempts. 

Nay even when these external alarms are past, and the The correc- 
people are enjoying their good fortune and the fruits of abuses, 
their victories, and as usually happens, are growing cor- 
rupt through flattery and idleness, so as to show a tendency 
to violence and arrogance, — it is in these circumstances 
more than ever that the constitution is seen to possess 
within itself the power of correcting abuses. For when 
anv one of the three estates becomes puffed up, and shows 
an inclination to be contentious and unduly encroaching, 
the dependency of all three upon one another, and the pos- 
sibility of limiting and thwarting one another must cer- 
tainly check this tendency. The proper balance is main- 
tained therefor by holding the impulsiveness of one part 
under fear of the others. 

II. Religion 

Whenever one of their illustrious men dies, as a part of The funeral 
the funeral the body with all its adornments is carried into 
the Forum to the rostra, as a raised platform there is called. 5 ° y 
Sometimes the body is propped upright upon it so as to be 
easily seen, or more rarely it is laid upon the rostra. The 
speaker is the son, if the deceased has left one of full age 
who is present at the time; or, failing a son, one of his kins- 
men mounts the rostra, while all the people are standing 
round, and delivers a speech concerning the virtues of the 
deceased and the successful exploits performed by him in 
his lifetime. By these measures the people are reminded 
of what has been done and made to see it with their own 
eyes — not only those persons who were engaged in the 



402 



Growth of Plutocracy 



The masks 

{imagines). 



Rome, 27; 
A ncient 
World, 332. 



actual transactions but those also who were not. Their 
sympathies are so deeply moved that the loss appears not 
to be confined to the actual mourners, but to be a public 
one affecting the whole community. 

After the burial and all the usual ceremonies are per- 
formed, they place the likeness of the deceased in the most 
conspicuous spot in the house and surmount it by a wooden 
canopy or shrine. This likeness consists of a mask made 
to represent the deceased with remarkable fidelity both in 
form and in color. These likenesses they adorn with great 
care, and display them at public sacrifices. And when any 
illustrious member of the family dies, they carry these 
masks to the funeral, putting them on men whom they 
think as near like the originals as possible in height and 
other personal peculiarities. And these substitutes assume 
clothes according to the rank of the person represented: if 
he was a consul or a praetor, a toga with purple stripes ; if 
a censor, whole purple; if he had also celebrated a triumph 
or performed any exploit of that kind, a toga embroidered 
with gold. These representatives themselves ride in 
chariots, while the fasces and axes and all the other cus- 
tomary insignia of the particular offices lead the way, 
according to the dignity of the rank enjoyed by the de- 
ceased in his lifetime. On arriving at the rostra they all 
take their seats on ivory chairs in their order. 

There could not easily be a more inspiring spectacle than 
this for a young man of noble ambitions and virtuous as- 
pirations. For can we imagine any one unmoved at the 
sight of all the likenesses collected together of the men who 
have earned glory, all as it were living and breathing? Or 
what could be a more glorious spectacle? 

The speaker over the body about to be buried, after 
finishing the praise of this particular person, starts upon 



Funeral Customs 403 

the others whose representatives are present; he begins The praise 

with the most ancient, and recounts the successes and heroes. 

achievements of each. By this means the glorious memory p i y bius vi. 

of brave men is continually renewed; the fame of those who 54> 

have performed any noble deed is never allowed to die; 

and the renown of those who have done good service to 

their country becomes a matter of common knowledge to 

the multitude and a part of the heritage of posterity. But 

the chief benefit of the ceremony is that it inspires young 

men to shrink from no exertion for the general welfare, in 

the hope of obtaining the glory that awaits the brave. 

And what I say is confirmed by this fact. Many Romans 
have volunteered to decide a whole battle by a single com- 
bat; not a few have deliberately accepted certain death, 
some in time of war to secure the safety of the rest, some in 
time of peace to preserve the safety of the commonwealth. 
There have also been instances of men in office putting 
their own sons to death, in defiance of every custom and 
law, because they rated the interests of their country 
higher than those of natural ties even with their nearest 
and dearest. There are many stories of this kind, related 
by many men in Roman history. 

What in other nations is looked upon as a reproach — I Value of 

. religion, 

mean a scrupulous fear of the gods — is, I believe, the very 

thing which keeps the Roman commonwealth together. 

To such an unusual height is this carried among them in (For the be- 

, , , , ,. , , , . ,, ginmngs of 

both private and public business that nothing could ex- scepticism, 
ceed it. Many persons might think this unaccountable; vailed among 
but in my opinion their object is to use it as a check upon the Greeks 
the common people. If it were possible to form a state set Greece,' 
wholly of philosophers, such a custom would perhaps be 
unnecessary. But seeing that every multitude is fickle 
and full of lawless desires, unreasoning anger, and violent 



218 ff.) 



404 



Growth of Plutocracy 



passion, the only resource is to keep them in check by 
mysterious terrors and scenic effects of this sort. There- 
fore, to my mind, the ancients were not acting without pur- 
pose or at random when they brought in among the vulgar 
those notions about the gods and the belief in the punish- 
ment in Hades; much rather do I think that men in these 
times are acting rashly and foolishly in rejecting them. 
Honesty. This is the reason why, apart from anything else, Greek 

statesmen, if intrusted with a single talent, though pro- 
tected by ten checking clerks, as many seals, and twice 
as many witnesses, yet cannot be induced to keep faith; 
whereas among the Romans in their magistracies and em- 
bassies, men have the handling of a great amount of 
money, and yet from pure respect to their oath keep their 
faith intact. And again, in other nations it is a rare thing 
to find a man who keeps his hands out of the public purse 
and is entirely pure in such matters; but among the Ro- 
mans it is a rare thing to detect a man in the act of com- 
mitting a crime. 

III. Agriculture 



Farmer's 
Calendar. 



From an 
inscription. 



Sign of the Twins. 
The Month is June. 
It contains thirty days. 
The Nones are on the fifth. 
The day has fifteen hours. 
The night has nine hours. 

The solstice is on the eighth day before the Calends of 
June (May 25). 
The month is under the care of Mercury. 
Hay-mowing. 

The vineyards are harrowed. 
Sacrifice is offered to Hercules and to Fors Fortuna. 



lb. preface. 



Agriculture 405 

To obtain wealth by trade has various advantages, were Scientific 
it not so precarious; and likewise lending money at inter- 
est, were it more consistent with honor. Such was the Agriculture. 
opinion entertained by our ancestors, and such are the b^Dr^H 
regulations prescribed in their statutes that the fine of the Oliver, 
thief should be twofold, but fourfold that of the usurer. 
How much less excellent a citizen they deemed the money- Agriculture 
lender than the thief can be estimated from this considera- honorable 
tion. And when they paid their eulogies to a good man, {endiSr° ney ~ 
they praised him as a good agriculturist, a good husband- 
man. He was considered to receive the highest meed of 
praise who thus was praised. Now a trader I consider to 
be energetic and zealous in making gain, but as I have 
before stated, his occupation is not exempt from risk and 
misfortune. But it is from the agriculturists that are 
produced both the most stalwart men and the most un- 
flinching soldiers; from their toil results gain the most 
consistent with religion, the least susceptible to shock, and 
the least likely to excite prejudice; and those engaged in 
this pursuit are least given to entertaining thoughts of ill. 
Now to return to the subject in hand, this beginning which 
I have promised will be made. 

When you think to provide an estate, be determined not The choice 
, , . . . . . , _ of an estate, 

to buy rashly, nor through any fault of yours, to grudge 

inspection, nor to rest satisfied with merely walking around 
it once. With each succeeding visit a good farm will 
cause increased satisfaction. Note this well, the prosper- 
ity of the neighbors; if the locality be good, their welfare 
of necessity will be well marked. And see that you enter 
into the farm and examine thoroughly how you may have 
some exit therefrom. See that the climate it possesses is 
a good one, that this may not prove your bane. Let its 
soil be good with a value of its own. If it is within your 



lb. 



406 



Growth of Plutocracy 



Other 
important 
considera- 
tions. 



Inspection 
by the 
owner. 

lb. 2. 



power let it be situated at the foot of a mountain, face the 
south, and lie in a wholesome district. Have a supply of 
workmen on hand, a good watering place, and near by a 
thriving town or sea or river, where ships ply, or else a 
road well constructed and much travelled. 

Let it lie surrounded by farms which suffer but seldom 
from a change of ownership. May those who in this region 
have sold their farms repent their having done so. Have 
it well furnished with buildings. Beware of rashly despis- 
ing the instruction of another. You will buy to better 
advantage from a good owner, a good husbandman. On 
coming to the farmhouse, observe whether there be a good 
supply of vessels for the press and jars; where there is not, 
know that the produce of the farm is proportionately 
small. That it may not demand an immense equipment, 
let it be situated in a convenient locality. See that your 
farm demands as small an equipment as possible, and re- 
quires no extravagant outlay. Know that a farm differs 
not from a person; however productive it is, yet if the ex- 
penditure is excessive, the profits are trifling. If you ask 
me what is the best farm, this will be my opinion: for all 
farmers and for the highest order of merit, for a farm ioo 
jugera in extent: first in order of excellence is a vineyard, 
if the land will produce wine of good quality, or even in 
great quantities; in the second place, a kitchen plot (gar- 
den); thirdly, a plantation of willows; in the fourth place, 
an olive garden; fifthly, a meadow; sixthly, a clump of 
trees for cutting; in the seventh place, an orchard; eighthly 
an acorn grove. 

When the owner has come to the farmhouse, and has 
saluted his domestic deity, let him on the same day, if pos- 
sible, make a tour around his farm; if not on the same day, 
then on the following day. When he has ascertained in what 



Supervision of the Farm 407 

way his farm has been tilled, and what tasks have been 
completed, and what left undone, on the day following this 
let him summon his steward, and inquire what work has 
been accomplished, what still remains; whether the tasks 
were performed quite at the appropriate time; whether he 
can complete what is still left; what wine has been made, 
what corn harvested, and thus with all other products. 
When he has ascertained this he must inspect the account 
of the various workmen and the number of days they have 
worked. If their work is not evident to him and the stew- 
ard claims that he has worked faithfully, the slaves have 
been sick, the weather has been bad, the slaves have es- 
caped, have completed some public work; when he has 
urged these reasons and many others besides, recall the 
steward to an examination of the account of tasks per- 
formed and the work of the laborers. 

The duties which could be performed when it rains are Work on 

rainy d.£Lvs 

the washing and pitching of jars, cleaning of the farm- 
house, moving the corn, carrying out the manure, making 
a manure-pit, cleaning the seed, repairing the ropes, mak- 
ing new ones; the slaves ought to patch together their 
rag-garments and caps for themselves. On holidays old 
benches should be cleaned, the public way paved, brambles 
cut out, the garden dug, the meadow cleared, twigs bound, 
thorns rooted up, spelt ground, everything made clean. 
When the slaves have been sick, they ought not to be given 
so much provisions. . . . 
These will be the duties of the steward: Let him main- Duties of 

the stew— 

tain good discipline. Let holidays be observed. Let him a rd. 
restrain his hands from others' goods and faithfully pre- j$ 5 
serve his own wealth. Let him preside at the disputes 
among the slaves; if any one has been guilty of a delin- 
quency, let him with discretion punish him according to 



408 Growth of Plutocracy 

his guilt. Let him provide against ill befalling the house- 
hold, against sickness, against hunger; let him ply them 
well with work, he will more readily restrain them from 
evil and others' possessions. If the steward is unwilling 
to do wrong, he will not do it. If he has tolerated evil, let 
not his master suffer him to go unpunished. Let him grant 
a recompense for good service, that others may be pleased 
to act rightly. Let the steward be not a gad-about, always 
be sober, go abroad nowhere to feast. Let him keep the 
household busy and give thought to having his master's 
orders obeyed. Let him not fancy that he is wiser than 
his master. The friends of his master let him hold as 
friends to himself. Let him pay attention to the com- 
mands that have been given him. Let him perform no 
sacred rites except at the cross-road or on the hearth at 
the feast of the cross-roads. Without the order of his 
master, let him extend a loan to no one. Let him exact 
the payment of loans extended by his master. Let him 
grant to no one a loan of seed for sowing, provisions, 
spelt, wine, oil. Let him have two or three households, 
to whom he may make requests, and grant articles to be 
used; but let this be the limit. . . . 

A cure for if anything is dislocated, it will become sound by this 

dislocations. ^ o ? j 

spell. Take a green reed three or four feet long, split it 

down the middle and let two men hold it to the hip bones. 

Then begin to sing in different measures, " The Healing of 

the Fractured Hip:" 

"Hip, Hip, Hurrah! 
Though you're broken sore, I trow, 
You will come together now. 
Hip, Hip, Hurrah! 
Bones are crushed and far apart — 
Come together by our art." 



lb. 160. 



Hostility to Advanced Studies 409 

IV. Philosophers and Rhetoricians Banished from 
Rome 

In the consulate of Caius Fannius Strabo, and Marcus A decree of 

tne senate, 

Valerius Messala, a decree of the senate was adopted con- 161 B.C. 

cerning the Latin philosophers and teachers of rhetoric : Geiiius xv. 

"Marcus Pomponius the praetor called for the opinion of "' 

the Senate, to wit: Since remark has been made concerning 

philosophers and rhetoricians, it was therefore decreed 

that Marcus Pomponius the praetor should take steps 

against them, and take care that, if it seemed in the public 

interest and in consonance with his own duty, they should 

not be in Rome." 

A few years after this decree of the senate, Cnaeus 

Domitianus Ahenobarbus and Lucius Licinius Crassus, the 

censors, issued this edict for restraining Latin rhetoricians: 

"Whereas we have been informed that there are men An edict of 
..... . . . . . the censors. 

who nave instituted a new form of instruction and that to 

the classes of these men our youth flock, while they call 
themselves Latin rhetoricians, and that there the young 
men pass whole days in idleness; now our ancestors have 
fixed what instruction their sons should imbibe, and what 
schools they should frequent. These new institutions, 
therefore, which accord not with the customs and manner 
of our ancestors, are neither agreeable nor proper. Where- 
fore to those who conduct as well as those who frequent 
such seminaries, we have thought proper to express our 
disapprobation of their proceedings." 

V. Roman Musical Taste 

Lucius Anicius, who had been praetor and had gained a 
victory over the Illyrians, returned to Rome with their 



410 Growth of Plutocracy 

Theceiebra- king Genthius and his children as prisoners. While cele- 
triumph. brating his triumph, Anicius did a very ridiculous thing. 
Polybius He sent for the most famous artists from Greece, and 
xxx. 14. after building an immense theatre in the Circus, he brought 

all the flute-players on the stage together . . . the most 
celebrated of the day. He placed them on the stage with 
the chorus, and bade them all play at once. 
Let the But when they struck up the tune accompanied by ap- 

more lively! propriate movements, he sent to them to say that they 
were not playing well, and must put more excitement into 
it. At first they did not know what to make of this order, 
until one of the lictors showed them that they must form 
themselves into two companies and facing round, advance 
against each other as though in battle. The flute-players 
caught the idea at once, and adopting a motion suitable 
to their own wild strains, produced a scene of utter con- 
fusion. 

They made the middle group of the chorus face round 
upon the two extreme groups; and blowing with inconceiv- 
able violence and discordance, the flute-players led these 
groups against each other. Meanwhile with violent stamp- 
ing that shook the stage, the members of the chorus rushed 
against those who were opposite, and then faced round 
and retired. But when one of the chorus, with dress girt 
up, turned round on the spur of the moment and raised 
his hands, like a boxer, in the face of the flute-player who 
was approaching, then the spectators clapped their hands 
and cheered loudly. 
Pandemo- While this sort of sham fight was going on, two dancers 

were brought into the orchestra to the sound of music; 
and four boxers, accompanied by trumpeters and clarion 
players, mounted the stage. The effect of these various 
contests all going on together was indescribable. But if I 



mum. 



Character and Habits of Cato 411 

should speak about their tragic actors, some would think 
I was merely jesting. 

VI. Cato the Censor 

Marcus Porcius Cato (another eminent man of the age) Marcus 

was born at Tusculum and brought up on a farm belonging cato. 

to his father in the Sabine country. There he lived till pi uta rch 

he began to take part in war and politics. In appearance Cat0 > l - 

he was — Ancient 

World, 405 f. 

Red-haired, gray-eyed, and savage-tusked as well. 

The estate adjoining that of Cato belonged to one of His life in 
the most powerful and highly born patricians of Rome, — ° un y ' 

Valerius Flaccus, a man who had a keen eye for rising cato^t ' 
merit, and generously fostered it till it received public 
recognition. This man heard of Cato's life from his serv- 
ants, who told how their master would go to the court 
early in the morning and plead the causes of all who re- 
quired his services, and then on returning to his farm would 
work with his servants, in winter wearing a coarse coat 
without sleeves, in summer nothing but his tunic. They 
added that he used to sit at meals with them and eat the 
same loaf and drink the same wine. 

Many other stories of his goodness, simplicity, and sen- 
tentious remarks were told Valerius, who became inter- 
ested in his neighbor, and invited him to dinner. They 
grew intimate; and Valerius, noticing his quiet and frank 
disposition, and thinking him like a plant that requires 
careful treatment and an extensive space in which to 
develop, encouraged and urged him to take part in political 
life at Rome. 

On going to Rome, he at once gained admirers by his Cato at 
able pleadings in the law courts, while he was advanced to 



412 Growth of Plutocracy 

important positions through Valerius. -He was first ap- 
pointed military tribune and then quaestor. Afterward he 
became so distinguished as to be able to compete with Va- 
lerius himself for the highest offices in the state. They 
were together elected consuls, and still later censors. Of 
Rome, no; the older Romans, Cato attached himself especially to 

Ancient . 

World, 383 f. Fabius Maximus, a man of the greatest renown and in- 
fluence, although it was his disposition and mode of life 
which Cato desired most to imitate. He did not hesitate, 
therefore, to oppose Scipio the Great, who was then a 
young man but a rival and opponent of Fabius. 

Clothing and He himself tells us that he never wore a garment worth 
more than a hundred drachmas; that when he was gen- 

CaL, 4. ' eral and consul he still drank the same wine as his servants ; 
that his dinner never cost him more than thirty asses in 
the market; and that he indulged himself to this extent 
solely for the good of the state, that he might be strong 
and able to serve his country in the field. 

Plutarch, These habits some ascribed to narrowness of mind, while 

some thought he carried parsimony to excess in order by 
his example to reform and restrain others. Be this as it 
may, I for my part consider that his conduct in treating 
his slaves like beasts of burden, and selling them when 
old and worn out, was the mark of an excessively harsh 
disposition, which disregards the claims of our common 
human nature, and merely considers the question of profit 
and loss. 

His maxims. (Cato was famous for his pithy sayings.) Once when 

Plutarch, he wished to restrain the Romans from distributing a large 
quantity of corn as a largess to the people, he thus began 
his speech: 

"It is difficult, fellow-citizens, to make the stomach 
hear reason, because it has no ears." 



Cato's Proverbs 413 

He said, too, 

"The Romans are like sheep, who never form opinions 
of their own, but follow where others lead them." 

With regard to female influence, he once said, 

" All mankind rule their wives, we rule all mankind, and 
our wives rule us." 

When a certain man sold his ancestral estate, which 
was situated by the seashore, Cato pretended to admire 
him as more powerful than the sea itself, "for this man," 
he said, "has drunk up the fields which the sea itself could 
not swallow." 

When King Eumenes came to Rome, the senate received (Eumenes, 
him with special honors, and he was courted and run after. g amum, Asia 
Cato, however, held himself aloof and would not go near Mmor -) 
him and when some one said, "But he is an excellent man 
and a good friend to Rome," he answered: 

"It may be so, but a king is by nature an animal that 
lives on human flesh." 

"Wise men," he said, "gain more advantage from fools Plutarch, 
than fools from wise men; for wise men avoid the errors 
of fools, but fools cannot imitate the example of wise 
men." 

"I like young men to have red cheeks rather than pale 
ones. I care not for a soldier who uses his hands while 
marching and his feet while fighting, or for one who snores 
louder in bed than he shouts in battle." 

" I cannot live with a man whose palate is more sensitive 
than his heart." This he said when an epicure wished to 
become his friend. 

" The soul of a lover inhabits the body of his beloved." 

"In my whole life I repent of three things only: first, 
that I have trusted a woman with a secret; secondly, that 
I have gone by water when I might have gone by land; 



414 



Growth of Plutocracy 



His political 
life. 

Plutarch, 
Cato, 15. 



His censor- 
ship. 

Plutarch, 
Cato, 18. 



thirdly, that I have passed one day without having made 
my will." 

To an old man who was acting wrongly he said: 

"My good sir, old age is ugly enough without your 
adding to it the deformity of wickedness." 

When a certain tribune, who was suspected of being a 
poisoner, was trying to carry a bad law T , Cato remarked: 

"Young man, I do not know which is the worse for us, 
to drink what you mix or to enact what you propose." 

Once when he was abused by a man of vicious life, he 
answered: 

"We are not contending on equal terms; you are accus- 
tomed to hearing and using bad language, whereas I am 
unused to hearing it and unwilling to use it." 

In his political life he seems to have thought one of his 
most important duties to be the impeachment of bad citi- 
zens. . . . He himself is said to have been defendant in 
nearly fifty cases, the last of which was tried when he was 
eighty-six years old. On this occasion he uttered that well 
known saying, "It is hard for a man who has lived in one 
generation to be obliged to defend himself before another." 
And this was not the end of his litigations; for four years 
later, at the age of ninety, he impeached Servius Galba. 
In fact his life, like that of Nestor, reached through three 
generations. 

But what caused the greatest dissatisfaction were the 
restrictions which he as censor imposed on luxury. This 
vice he could not attack openly, because it had taken such 
deep root among the people; but he caused all clothes, 
carriages, women's ornaments, and furniture which ex- 
ceeded fifteen hundred drachmas in value to be rated at 
ten times their value and taxed accordingly; for he thought 
that those who possessed the most valuable property 



Cato as Censor 415 

ought to contribute most largely to the revenues of the 
state. A tax of but three copper asses for every thousand, P. 376. 
on the other hand, he imposed upon all the citizens, that 
those who were burdened with an excessive taxation on 
luxuries, when they saw persons of' frugal and simple 
habits paying so small a tax on the same income, might 
cease from their extravagance. This measure gained him 
the hatred of those who were taxed so heavily for their 
luxuries. 

Far from paying attention to those who blamed his Plutarch, 

1 11 mi tt re CatO, 19. 

policy, he proceeded to still severer measures. He cut on 
the water-pipes, by which water was conveyed from the 
public fountains into private houses and gardens, and de- 
stroyed all houses which encroached upon public streets, 
lowered the price of contracts for public works, and farmed 
out the public revenues for the highest possible sums. 

STUDIES 

1. In the time of the Punic Wars what kind of government had 
Rome? What feature of the government was monarchical (or des- 
potic)? What feature was aristocratic? What feature was demo- 
cratic? What were the powers and duties of the consul? of the 
senate? Describe the harmony of the constitution. 

2. Describe the masks and the funeral oration. What was the 
effect of these customs on character? What was the practical value 
of religion to the Romans? Compare the Romans with the Greeks 
in honesty. 

3. What was the value of this calendar to the farmer? How did 
farming compare in honor with other occupations? What rules does 
Cato lay down for purchasing a country estate? Who were the labor- 
ers on a farm? W T hat work was reserved for rainy days? What were 
the duties of a steward? What remedy was prescribed for dislocation? 
What other information as to life and character may we derive from 
this selection from Cato? To what time does it refer? 

4. What attitude did the Roman government take toward higher 



416 Growth of Plutocracy 



education (rhetoric and philosophy)? When were these two docu- 
ments issued and what is their object? 

5. What example does Polybius give us to illustrate the Roman 
feeling for good music? What impression of Roman character is 
made by this selection? 

6. Give an account of the early life of Cato; of his censorship. 
What are some of his pithy sayings? Enumerate the prominent 
traits of his character. From this entire chapter, with the corre- 
sponding chapter in the Ancient World, write a paper on "Roman 
Character and Intelligence in the Second Century B.C." 









CHAPTER XXXVI 

THE REVOLUTION: (I) FROM PLUTOCRACY TO 
MILITARY RULE 

I. Tiberius Gracchus 

While Scipio (/Emilianus, his brother-in-law), was The legisla- 
warring against Numantia, Tiberius began his legislation, r i us . 
to which he was led by the following motives. Plutarch, 

Of the land acquired by war the Romans (i) assigned Gracchus, 7. 
the cultivated part forthwith to settlers or (2) leased or How the 
(3) sold it. Since they had no leisure immediately to allot Jjgposed of 
the part which then lay desolated by war, — generally the acquired 
greater part, — (4) they made proclamation that in the .' 
meantime those who were willing to work it might do so Civil Wars, 
on condition of rendering to the government a share of 
the yearly crops — a tenth of the grain and a fifth of the 
fruit. From those who kept flocks was required a share 
of the animals, both oxen and small cattle. They did 
these things in order to multiply the Italian race, which 
they considered the most laborious of peoples, that they 
might have plenty of allies at home. 

The result, however, was the very opposite of their de- 
sire. For the rich, getting possession of the greater part 
of the undistributed lands, and emboldened by the lapse 
of time to believe that they should never be dispossessed, 
added to their holdings the small farms of their poor 
neighbors partly by purchase and partly by force. In this 
way they came to cultivate vast tracts instead of single 
estates, using for the purpose slaves as laborers and 

417 



4 ii 



The Revolution 



How Tibe- 
rius became 
a reformer. 

Plutarch, 
Tiberius 
Gracchus, 8. 



His agrarian 
law, 133 B.C. 

Appian, 
Civil Wars, 
i. 9 

Rome, 152; 
Ancient 
World, 410. 



Opposition. 

Appian, 
Civil Wars, 



herdsmen, lest free laborers should be drawn from their 
employment into the army. 

The ownership of slaves itself brought great gain from 
the large number of children, who multiplied because 
slaves were exempt from military service. Thus the 
powerful men became enormously rich, and the race of 
slaves increased throughout the country, while the Italian 
people dwindled in numbers and strength, oppressed by 
penury, taxes, and military service. If they had any res- 
pite from these evils, they passed their time in idleness, 
because the land was held by the rich, who employed 
slaves instead of freemen as cultivators. 

In a certain book Gaius recorded that as Tiberius, his 
brother, was passing through Etruria on his way to 
Numantia, he saw that the country was depopulated, and 
that the laborers and shepherds were foreign slaves and 
barbarians; then for the first time Tiberius thought out 
those political measures which to the two brothers were the 
beginning of infinite calamities. But the energy and am- 
bition of Tiberius were roused mainly by the people, who 
by writing on the porticos, walls, and tombs, urged him 
to recover the public land for the poor. 

He brought forward a law r which provided (1) that no 
one should hold more than five hundred jugera of the 
public land. But he added a provision to the former law, 
(2) that the sons of the present occupiers might each 
hold one-half that amount, and (3) that the remainder 
should be divided among the poor by triumvirs, who 
should be changed annually. 

This greatly disturbed the rich because, on account 
of the triumvirs, they could no longer disregard the law 
as they had done before; nor could they buy the allot- 
ments of others, for Gracchus had provided against this 



support him. 



The Agrarian Law 419 

by forbidding sales. Collecting in groups, they lamented, 
and accused the poor of appropriating the results of their 
tillage, their vineyards, and their dwellings. Some said 
they had paid the price of the land to their neighbors. 
Were they to lose the money with the land? Others said 
that the graves of their ancestors were in the ground which 
had been allotted to them in the division of their fathers' 
estates. Others declared that their wives' dowries had 
been expended on the estates, or that the land had been 
given to their own daughters as dowry. Money-lenders 
could show loans made on this security. All kinds of 
wailing and expressions of indignation were heard at once. 

On the other side were heard the lamentations of the The poor 
poor, — that they had been reduced from competence to 
extreme penury, and from that to childlessness because 
they were unable to rear their offspring. They recounted 
the military services they had rendered, by which this 
very land had been acquired, and were angry that they 
were robbed of their share of the common property. They 
reproached the rich for employing instead of citizens, mere 
slaves, who were always faithless and ill-tempered and 
for that reason unserviceable in war. 

While these classes were lamenting, and accusing each 
other, many from the colonies and municipia, and all in 
fact who were interested in the lands and who were under 
similar fears, flocked in and took sides with the respec- 
tive factions. Emboldened by numbers and exasperated 
against each other, they formed turbulent crowds, and 
waited for the voting on the new law. Some tried by all 
means to prevent its enactment and others supported it 
in every possible way. In addition to personal interest, 
the spirit of rivalry spurred both sides in the preparations 
they were making for the day of the assembly. 



420 The Revolution 

The object What Gracchus had in his mind in proposing the measure 
was not wealth but an increase in the number of useful 

Cmrwors, citizens. Thoroughly inspired by the value of his plan, 

*• "• and believing that nothing more advantageous or more 

admirable could ever happen to Italy, he took no account 
of the difficulties in his way. . . . 

lb. 12. Marcus Octavius, another tribune, who had been in- 

duced by the holders of these lands to interpose his veto, 
ordered the scribe to keep silence. Now among the Ro- 
mans the tribune's veto always prevailed. Gracchus 
therefore reproached him severely and adjourned the 
meeting to the following day. Then he stationed a suffi- 
cient guard as if to force Octavius against his will, and 
with threats ordered the scribe to read the proposed law 
to the multitude. He began to read but when Octavius 
again vetoed, he stopped. 

Then the tribunes fell to wrangling with each other, and 
a considerable tumult arose among the people. The lead- 
ing citizens besought the tribunes to submit their con- 
troversy to the senate for a decision. Gracchus seized on 
the suggestion, — for he believed that the law was ac- 
ceptable to all well-disposed persons, — and hastened to 
the senate-house. As he had there only a few followers 
and was upbraided by the rich, he ran back to the Forum, 

Onthele- an( j sa jd ne WO uld take the vote of the assembly on the 

gahty of such <* J 

depositions; following day; the question would be not only on the law 
World, 411; °ut on the magistracy of Octavius, to determine whether 
MwJSe/367 a tr ibune who was acting contrary to the people's interest 

could continue to hold his office. 
Deposition And so he did; for when Octavius, nothing daunted, 
again interposed, Gracchus distributed the pebbles to 
take a vote on him first. When the first tribe voted to 
depose Octavius from his magistracy, Gracchus turned 



Deposition of a Tribune 421 

to him and begged him to desist from his veto. As he 
would not yield, the votes of the other tribes were taken. 
There were thirty-five tribes at this time. The seventeen 
which first voted, angrily sustained this motion. If the 
eighteenth should do the same, it would make a majority. 
Again did Gracchus, in the sight of the people, urgently 
importune Octavius in his present extreme danger not to 
prevent this most pious w r ork, so useful to Italy, and not 
to frustrate the wishes so earnestly entertained by the 
people, whose desires he ought rather to share in his 
character of tribune, and not risk the loss of his office by 
public condemnation. After speaking thus, he called the 
gods to witness that he did not willingly do any despite 
to his colleague. But as Octavius was still unyielding, he 
went on to take the votes. Octavius was forthwith re- 
duced to the rank of a private citizen and slunk away un- 
observed. 

The law concerning the land was immediately afterward Plutarch, 

Tiberius 
Carried. . . . Gracchus, 13. 

II. Gaius Gracchus 

The common opinion is that Gaius was a pure dema- Gaius 
gogue and much more greedy of popular favor than Ti- 
berius. But in fact the younger brother took part in GaiusGrac- 
public affairs through necessity rather than choice. Cicero chus > *■ 
the orator says that Gaius declined all offices and had Ancient 
determined to live in retirement, but that his brother ap- 
peared to him in a dream and said, " Gaius, why do you 
hesitate? There is no escape — it is our fate to live and die 
for the people." 

On entering office (the tribunate) he soon made him- 123 B.C. 
self first on the board, for he surpassed every Roman 
in eloquence, and his misfortunes gave him a license 



422 



The Revolution 



Plut. ib. 3. 



His laws. 

Plutarch, 
Gains Grac- 
chus, 5. 



His 

monarchical 

power. 

Plutarch, 
Gains Grac- 
chus, 6. 



Rome, 130, 
n. 1. 



An adminis- 
trator of 
marvelous 
energy. 



for speaking freely when lamenting the fate of his 
brother. 

Of the laws which he proposed with a view to gaining 
the popular favor and to weakening the senate, one was 
for the establishment of colonies and for the distribution 
of public land among the poor. Another provided for 
supplying the soldiers with clothing at the public expense, 
without any deduction from their pay on this account; 
the same law exempted youths under seventeen from being 
drafted for the army. A third favored the allies, and put 
the Italians on the same footing as the citizens with re- 
spect to the suffrage. Another, relating to grain, had for 
its object the lowering of the price for the poor. The last 
referred to the jurors, — a measure which most of all en- 
croached on the privileges of the senate. 

The people not only passed the last-named measure, 
but empowered Gracchus to select from the knights those 
who were to act as jurors — a right which conferred on him 
a kind of monarchical authority, and even the senate now 
assented to the measures which he proposed in that body. 
All his plans, however, were honorable to the senate. 
Such, for instance, was the reasonable and just decree 
about the grain which Fabius the propraetor sent from 
Iberia. Gracchus induced the senate to sell the grain and 
return the money to the Iberian cities, and further to 
censure Fabius for making the Roman dominion heavy 
and intolerable to the subject nations. This decree brought 
Gaius great reputation and popularity in the provinces. 

He also introduced measures for sending out colonies, 
for the construction of roads, and for the building of public 
granaries; and he made himself director and superin- 
tendent for carrying all these plans into effect. Though 
engaged in so many great undertakings, he was never 



Gaius Gracchus as Administrator 423 

wearied, but with wonderful activity and labor he effected 
every single object as if he had for the time no other occu- 
pation; so that even those who thoroughly feared and 
hated him were amazed at the rapidity and perfect exe- 
cution of all that he undertook. But the people looked 
with admiration on the man himself, as they saw him 
attended by crowds of building contractors, artificers, 
ambassadors, soldiers, and learned men, to all of whom he 
was easy of access. And while he maintained his dignity, 
he was affable to all, and adapted his behavior to the con- 
dition of every individual, and so proved the falsehood 
of those who called him tyrannical or arrogant or violent. 
In this way he showed himself more skilful as a popular 
leader in his dealings with men than even in his speeches 
from the rostra. 

But Gaius busied himself most about the building of His public 
coads with a view to utility, convenience, and ornament. 
The roads were made in a straight line through the coun- Gaius Grac- 
try, partly of quarried stone and partly with tight-rammed chus > 7 - 
masses of earth. By filling up the depressions, and by 
throwing bridges across those parts which were traversed 
by winter torrents or deep ravines, and by raising the road 
on both sides to the same uniform height, the whole line 
was made level, and presented a pleasing appearance. He 
also measured all the roads by miles — the Roman mile is 
not quite eight stadia — and he fixed stone blocks to mark 
the distances. He placed other stones at shorter distances 
from one another on each side of the road, that people 
might easily mount their horses from these blocks without 
other assistance. 

Gaius Gracchus is held to have been a powerful and 
strenuous orator. No one disputes it. But how is it to be 
borne, that in the eyes of some he appears more stern, 



424 



The Revolution 



Mistreat- 
ment of 
Italians by 
the Romans. 

Speeches of 
Gaius Grac- 
chus, quoted 
by Gellius 
x. 3. 



Comment of 
Gellius. 



The body in 
the litter. 

Speech of 
Gracchus: ib. 



more spirited, more copious than Marcus Tullius? Now I 
was reading lately a speech of Gracchus upon the statutes 
published, in which with all the odium possible he com- 
plains that Marcus Marius, and other persons of distinc- 
tion from the municipal towns of Italy, were injuriously 
whipped with rods by the magistrates of the Roman peo- 
ple. His words upon this subject are as follows: "The 
consul lately came to Theanum Sidicinum; he said his 
wife wished to bathe in the men's bath. To Marcus 
Marius, the quaestor of Sidicinum, the task was assigned 
that they who were bathing should be driven forth. The 
wife reports to her husband that the baths were not given 
up to her soon enough nor were they sufficiently clean. 
A post was accordingly fixed down in the market-place, 
and Marcus Marius, the most illustrious man of his city, 
was led to it; his garments were stripped off, and he was 
beaten with rods. When the inhabitants of Cales heard 
this, they passed a decree that no one should presume to 
bathe when Roman magistrates were there. At Feren- 
tinum, also, our praetor for a reason of the same sort or- 
dered the quaestors to be seized. One threw himself from 
the wall, the other was taken and scourged." 

In a matter so atrocious, in so lamentable and distress- 
ing a proof of public injustice, what has he said, either in 
a full or an incisive way, or so as to excite tears or com- 
miseration? What has he spoken expressive of exuberant 
indignation, or in a spirit of solemn and striking remon- 
strance? There is indeed a brevity and terseness and a 
telling simplicity in his speech, such as we usually find in 
the cleverness of the comic stage. 

In another place likewise Gracchus speaks thus: "One 
example I will show you of the licentiousness and intem- 
perance of our young men. A few years ago a young man 



Proposal to Extend the Citizenship 425 

was sent from Asia as an ambassador, who had not yet 
been in any magistracy. He was carried in a litter, when 
a herdsman from the peasantry of Venusium met him, 
and not knowing what they were carrying, asked in joke 
whether they were bearing a dead body? Having heard 
this, he ordered the litter to be set down and the man to 
be beaten with the ropes by which the litter was fastened, 
till he gave up the ghost." Now this speech of his, upon Further 

. , f 1 i.«. 1 • 11 r comment, 

so violent and cruel an outrage, diners nothing at all from 

the style of common conversation. 

He called the Latin allies to demand the full rights of The Latins 

Roman citizenship, for the senate could not with decency Italians, 

refuse this privilege to kinsmen by blood. To the other Appian, Civil 

allies, who were not allowed to vote in Roman assemblies, Wars, J - 2 3- 

he sought to give the right of suffrage, in order to have (For col- 

,.,,., r , /. 1 1 1 , . «i omes, allies, 

their help in the enactment of laws which he had in mind, etc., see 
Greatly alarmed at this, the senate ordered the consuls to ^Ancient 
give public notice: "Nobody who does not possess the World, 361-5. 
right of suffrage shall stay in the city or approach within 
forty stadia of it while the voting is going on concerning 
these laws." The senate also persuaded Livius Drusus, 
another tribune, to interpose his veto against the laws pro- 
posed by Gracchus, but not to tell the people his reasons 
for doing so; for a tribune was not required to give reasons 
for his veto. In order to win the people they gave Drusus 
the privilege of founding twelve colonies, and the plebeians 
were so much pleased with this that they began to scoff at 
the laws proposed by Gracchus. 

III. Gaius Marius 

He took all who were willing to join him, the greater His army. 
number from the lowest ranks. Some said this was done 



426 



The Revolution 



Sallust, 
Jugurthine 
War, 86. 

A ncient 
World, 416- 

23- 



Plutarch, 
Marius, 9. 



Sallust, 
Jugurthine 
War, 84. 



End of the 
war, 106 B.C. 

Sallust, 
Jugurthine 
War, 86. 



Strife 
between 
Marius and 
Sulla. 

Plutarch, 
Marius, $2. 



from a scarcity of better men, and others from the consul's 
desire to pay court to the poorer class, by whom he had 
been honored and promoted. In fact to a man grasping at 
power the most needy are the most serviceable. 

Former generals had never admitted men of this kind 
into the army, but had given arms, as a badge of honor, to 
those only who had the due qualification (of property) ; for 
they considered that every soldier pledged his property to 
the state. 

Marius sent for auxiliaries from foreign states, kings, and 
allies; he enlisted, too, all the bravest men from Latium, 
most of whom he knew by actual service, a few only by 
report; and by earnest invitation he induced even the dis- 
charged veterans to accompany him. Though opposed to 
him, the senate dared refuse him nothing. The additions 
to the legions it voted with eagerness because it knew that 
military service was unpopular, and thought that Marius 
would lose either the means of warfare or the favor of the 
people. But it entertained such expectations in vain, so 
ardent a desire of going with Marius came upon almost all. 
Every one cherished the fancy that he would return home 
laden with spoil, crowned with victory, or attended with 
some similar good fortune. 

Setting out accordingly to Africa with a somewhat larger 
force than had been decreed, he arrived in a few days at 
Utica. There he received the command of the army from 
Publius Rutilius, the lieutenant of Metellus; for Metellus 
himself avoided the sight of his successor, that he might not 
see what he could not endure even to hear mentioned. 

(For some time Marius and Sulla, his quaestor in the 
Jugurthine War, had been growing jealous of each other's 
influence.) Strife between them was delayed by the Social 
War which suddenly burst upon the state. 



Marius and Sulla 427 

This war, diversified by many defeats and by great Plutarch, 
changes of fortune, took from Marius as much reputation go-88 B.C. 
and influence as it gave to Sulla. ib. 34. 

At length the Italians yielded, and many persons at (For causes 
Rome were intriguing for the command in the war with war° C see 
Mithridates. . . . Marius, moved bv boyish emulation, R° m ?> l6 6; 

J J . Ancient His- 

threw off his old age and infirmities, and went daily to the tory, 357.) 
Campus Martius, where he took his exercises with the 
young men, and showed that he was still active in arms 
and sat firm in all the movements of horsemanship, though 
he was not well-built in his old age, but very fat and 
heavy. 

The assembly voted the command to Marius, who when Flight of 
ready to set out, sent two tribunes to receive the army from 88 B.C.' 
Sulla. But Sulla, after encouraging his soldiers, who num- (The senate 
bered thirty-five thousand well armed men, led them to- g ve * [ h g J 
ward Rome. These troops fell upon the tribunes whom command to 
Marius had sent, and murdered them. Marius, on his P i utarch 
part, put to death many of the friends of Sulla in Rome, Marius, 35- 
and proclaimed freedom to the slaves if they would join 
him; but it is said that three only accepted the offer. As 
Sulla entered the city, Marius made a feeble resistance, 
and was soon compelled to flee. 

Instructions had already been sent to every city, re- 76.38. 
quiring the authorities to search for the fugitive and put 
him to death when he should be found. 

Marius escaped, however, and without a companion or "I cannot 
servant fled to Minturnae. While he was resting there in a Marius!" 
secluded house, the magistrates of the city, whose fears Appian, Civit 
were excited by the proclamation of the Roman people, but 
who hesitated to be the murderers of a man who had been 
six times consul and had performed so many brilliant ex- 
ploits, sent a Gaul to kill him with a sword. The story is 



428 



The Revolution 



"On the 
ruins of 
Carthage." 

Plutarch, 
Marius, 40. 



that as the Gaul was approaching the pallet of Marius in 
the dusk, he thought he saw the gleam and flash of fire 
darting from the eyes of a hidden man, and that Marius 
rose from his bed and in a thundering voice shouted to him, 
"Dare you kill Gaius Marius?" 

The Gaul turned and fled out of doors like a madman, 
exclaiming, "I cannot kill Gaius Marius!" As the magis- 
trates had come to their previous decision with reluctance, 
so now a kind of religious awe came over them, for they 
remembered the prophecy given him while he was a boy, 
that he should be consul seven times. 

At this time the governor of Libya was Sextilius, a 
Roman who had received neither favor nor injury from 
Marius. It was expected therefore that the governor would 
help him, at least as far as feelings of pity move a man. 
But no sooner had Marius landed with a few of his party 
than an officer met him, and standing right in front of him 
said: 

"The governor Sextilius forbids you, Marius, to set foot 
on Libya, and he says that if you do, he will support the 
decree of the senate by treating you as an enemy." 

When Marius heard this command, grief and indigna- 
tion deprived him of the power of speech. He remained 
silent a long time, looking fixedly at the officer. As the 
latter asked him what he had to say — what reply he had 
for the governor — he answered with a deep groan: 

" Tell him you have seen Gaius Marius, a fugitive, sitting 
on the ruins of Carthage." 



Civil War, 
83-82 B.C. 



IV. Sulla 

After speedily finishing all his business with Mithridates, 
Sulla hastened his return to meet his enemies. ... He 
came home with a large, well disciplined army, devoted to 



Sulla's Proscriptions 429 

him and elated by his exploits. He had abundance of Appian, 

, . , . . , . .. . Civil Wars, 

ships, money, and apparatus suitable for all emergencies, i. 76. 
and was an object of terror to his enemies. Carbo and 

Cinna were in such fear of him that they despatched emis- Rome, 171. 

saries to all parts of Italy to collect money, soldiers, and Ancient 

Supplies. World, vi-6. 

(In two years of civil war Sulla destroyed the armies of Sulla's 
the democratic leaders who opposed him, and then entered tions,82 B.C. 
Rome all-powerful.) Now he began to make blood flow, piutarch, 
and he filled the city with countless deaths. For private Sulla ' 3I - 
enmity many persons were murdered who never had 
anything to do with Sulla, but he consented to their death 
to please his partisans. 

At last a young man, Gaius Metellus, had the boldness 
to ask Sulla in the senate-house when there would be an 
end to their miseries, and how far he would proceed before 
they could hope to see their misfortunes cease. 

"We are not deprecating your vengeance against those 
whom you have determined to put out of the way," he 
said, "but we entreat you to relieve of uncertainty those 
whom you have determined to spare." 

Sulla replied, 

"I have not yet determined whom I will spare." 

"Tell us then," Metellus said, "whom you intend to 
punish." 

Sulla promised to do so. Some say it was not Metellus 
but Afidius, one of Sulla's flatterers, who made use of the 
last expression. Without communicating with any magis- 
trate, Sulla immediately proscribed eighty persons. As 
this act caused a general murmur, he let one day pass, and 
then proscribed two hundred and twenty more, and again 
on the third day as many. In an address to the people he 
said, with reference to these measures, that he had pro- 



430 The Revolution 

scribed all he could think of, and as to those who now es- 
caped his memory, he would proscribe them at some future 
time. 

It was a part of the proscription that every man who re- 
ceived and protected a proscribed person should be put to 
death for his humanity, and there was no exception for 
brothers, children, or parents. The reward for killing a 
proscribed person was two talents, whether it was a slave 
who killed his master or a son who killed his father. But 
what was considered most unjust of all, he affixed infamy 
on the sons and grandsons of all the proscribed, and con- 
fiscated their property. 
Greed the The proscriptions were not confined to Rome but ex- 

motive, tended to every city in Italy. Neither temple nor hospi- 

table hearth nor father's house was free from murder; but 
husbands were butchered in the arms of their wives, and 
children in the embrace of their mothers. The number of 
those who were massacred through revenge and hatred w r as 
nothing compared with those w r ho were murdered for their 
property. It occurred even to the assassins to notice t^iat 
the ruin of such a one was due to his large house, another 
man owed his death to his orchard, and another again to 
his warm baths. Quintus Aurelius, who never meddled 
with public affairs, and who was no further concerned about 
all these calamities except so far as he sympathized with 
the sufferings of others, happened to come to the Forum, 
and there he read the names of the proscribed. Finding 
his own name among them, he exclaimed, "Alas, wretch 
that I am: my farm at Alba is my persecutor!" He had 
not gone far before he was murdered by some one who 
was in search of him. 

Meanwhile Marius (adopted son of the great Marius, 
and a democratic general in the civil war) killed himself to 






Dictatorship of Sulla 431 

avoid being taken. Sulla then went to Praeneste (which Sulla at 

Marius had held) and there began to examine the case of 

each individual before punishing him; but lacking time suila, 32. 

for this inquiry, he had all the people brought to one spot 

to the number of twelve thousand, and ordered them to be 

massacred, with the exception of one man, an old friend 

of his, whom he offered to pardon. But the man nobly 

declared he would never owe his safety to the destroyer 

of his country; and mingling with the rest of the citizens, 

he was cut down together with them. 

Besides the massacres, other things caused dissatisfac- His dictator- 
tion. Sulla had himself proclaimed dictator, and thus B.C.' 
revived this office after an interval of a hundred and piutarch, 
twenty years. Sulla ' 33> 

Twenty-four axes were carried in front of him, as was His legisla- 
customary with dictators — the same number which was 
borne before the ancient kings; and he had besides a large cfSTwars, 
body-guard. He repealed laws and enacted others. He L IO °- 
forbade any one to hold the office of praetor till after he 
had held that of quaestor, or to be consul before he had been 
praetor, and he prohibited any man from holding the same 
office a second time till after the lapse of ten years. He 
reduced the tribunician power to such an extent that it 
seemed to be destroyed. He curtailed it by a law which 
provided that one holding the office of tribune should never 
afterward hold any other office. 



STUDIES 

1. How did the Romans dispose of acquired land? What resulted 
from these arrangements? What were the provisions of the agrarian 
law of Tiberius? What was his aim? Who opposed and who sup- 
ported him, and why? Discuss the legality of the deposition of 
Octavius. 



432 



The Revolution 



2. What were the principal laws of Gaius Gracchus? What was 
the object of each? Describe a Roman road. What are the con- 
tents of these quotations from his speeches, and what conditions do 
they show? Is the comment of Gellius favorable or the opposite? 
What was the aim of these speeches? What was the general aim 
of Gaius? 

3. Of what elements did Marius make up his army? Describe his 
conflict with Sulla. Narrate his wanderings. Who are the authors 
of the selections relating to the Gracchi and Marius? When did 
each live, and what is his historical value? 

4. What are proscriptions? Describe those of Sulla. What were 
the motives of the men engaged in it? What was the character 
of Sulla? 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

THE REVOLUTION: (II) THE MILITARY POWER 
IN CONFLICT WITH THE REPUBLIC 

I. POMPEY 

(Among the rising officers of the army Gnaeus Pompey Gnaeus 
was most fitted to be the heir of Sulla's policy.) Never did 
the Roman people give to any other man so strong tokens pompey,'*. 
of affection as to Pompey, or at so early an age, or which Ancient 
grew so rapidly with the good fortune of the receiver, or World, 428- 
remained so firm in his misfortunes. The causes of their 
affection were many: his temperate life, his skill in arms, 
the persuasiveness of his speech, the integrity of his char- 
acter, and his affability to every man who came in his way, 
so that there was no person from whom one could ask a 
favor with so little pain, whose requests one would more 
willingly strive to satisfy. In addition to his other en- 
dearing qualities, Pompey could do a kindness without 
seeming to do it, and could receive a favor with dignity. 

At first his face, too, contributed greatly to win the good His appear- 

. . anc6. 

will of the people, and to secure a favorable reception be- 
fore he opened his mouth. For the sweetness of his expres- p om p e yJ 2 . 
sion was mingled with dignity and kindness; and while he 
was yet in the very bloom of youth, his noble and kingly 
nature clearly showed itself. The slight falling back of the 
hair and the expression of the eyes caused people to notice 
a resemblance to the portraits of Alexander, though in fact 
the likeness was more talked of than real. 

433 



434 



The Revolution 



Sertorius. 

Appian, 
Civil Wars, 
i. 108. 



76 B.C. 



72 B.C. 



The Servile 
War 

(or Gladia- 
torial War), 
73-7i B.C. 

Plutarch, 
Pompey, 21. 



Of the Sullan troubles there remained the war with Ser- 
torius, which had been going on for eight years, and which 
was no easy war for Rome, as it was waged not merely 
against Spaniards but against the Romans and Sertorius. 
He had been chosen governor of Spain while he was cooper- 
ating with Carbo against Sulla, and after taking the city 
of Suessa under an armistice, he fled and assumed his 
governorship. With an army from Italy itself and another 
raised from the Celtiberians, he drove from Spain the 
former governors, who to favor Sulla refused to surrender 
the government to him. He fought nobly, too, against 
Metellus, whom Sulla had sent to oppose him. After ac- 
quiring a reputation for bravery, he enrolled a council of 
three hundred members from the friends who were with 
him, and called it the Roman senate in derision of the 
real one. 

After the death of Sulla, and later of Lepidus (a demo- 
cratic leader), Sertorius obtained another Italian army 
which Perpenna, the lieutenant of Lepidus, brought him. 
It was now supposed that he intended to march against 
Italy itself, and he would have done so, had not the senate 
become alarmed and sent another army and general into 
Spain in addition to the former forces. This general was 
Pompey, who was still a young man, but renowned for 
his exploits under Sulla. (Sertorius was himself uncon- 
querable; but when at length he was assassinated, Per- 
penna, his faithless lieutenant, easily fell a prey to 
Pompey.) 

After staying long enough to end the chief disturbances, 
and to quiet and settle the most dangerous troubles, 
Pompey led his army back to Italy, where he chanced to 
arrive at the time the Servile War was at its height. 

Spartacus, by birth a Thracian, who had once served 



Spartacus 435 

as soldier with the Romans, had since become a prisoner, Appian, 
and had been sold for a gladiator. While he was in the i. n6. 
gladiatorial training-school at Capua, he persuaded about 
seventy of his comrades to strike for their own freedom, 
rather than for the amusement of spectators. They over- 
came the guards and ran away. Arming themselves with 
clubs and daggers, which they took from people on the 
roads, they sought refuge on Mount Vesuvius. . . . After- 
ward still greater throngs flocked to Spartacus, till his 
army numbered seventy thousand men. For them he 
manufactured weapons and collected apparatus. 

This war, so formidable to the Romans, had now lasted lb. i. 118. 
three years. When the election of praetors came on, fear 
fell upon all, and nobody offered himself as a candidate 
until Licinius Crassus, a man distinguished among the 
Romans for birth and wealth, assumed the praaetorship, 
and marched with six legions against Spartacus. . . . 
Presently he overcame ten thousand insurgents, who were 
encamped in a detached position, and killed two-thirds 
of them. 

Believing that the work still to be done against Spar- Appian, Civil 
tacus was great and severe, the government ordered up 
as a reenforcement the army of Pompey, which had just 
arrived from Spain. 

This was the reason why Crassus, the commander, 
risked a battle, which he gained with the slaughter of Plutarch, 
twelve thousand three hundred of the enemy. But For- 
tune, as we may say, adopted Pompey into this success 
also, for five thousand men who escaped from the battle 
fell in his way. After destroying all of them, he took the 
opportunity of writing first to the senate that whereas 
Crassus had conquered the gladiators in a pitched battle, 
he had himself pulled up the war by the roots. And this 



436 



The Revolution 



The pirates. 

Florus iii. 6. 



Plutarch, 

Pompey, 24. 



was agreeable for the Romans to hear, because of their 
good will to Pompey. 

Meantime, while the Romans were engaged in different 
parts of the world, the Cilicians had spread themselves 
over the sea, and by obstructing commerce and by break- 
ing the bonds of human society, had made the sea as im- 
passable through piracy as it would have been rendered 
by a tempest. 

And now men who were powerful in wealth and of dis- 
tinguished birth, and who claimed superior education, be- 
gan to embark on piratical vessels and to share in their 
undertakings, as if the occupation were reputable and an 
object of ambition. In many places were piratical posts 
and fortified beacons, at which armaments put in. For 
this peculiar occupation swift light fleets were fitted out 
with bold vigorous crews and skilful helmsmen. More 
annoying than their formidable appearance was their 
arrogant and pompous equipment with golden streamers 
and purple sails and silvered oars, as if they rioted in their 
evil practices and prided themselves on them. Their 
playing on flutes and stringed instruments and their drink- 
ing along the whole coast, their seizure of persons high in 
office, and their holding captured cities for ransom, dis- 
graced the Roman supremacy. The piratical ships had 
now increased to above a thousand, and the cities seized 
by them were four hundred. 

But their most insulting conduct was of the following 
nature. Whenever a captive called out that he was a 
Roman and mentioned his name, they would pretend to 
be terrified, and would strike their thighs and fall down 
at his knees praying him to pardon them; and their cap- 
tive would believe all this to be real, seeing that they were 
humble and suppliant. Then some would put Roman shoes 



War with the Pirates 437 

on his feet, and others would throw over him a toga, pre- 
tending it was done that there might be no mistake about 
him again. When they had for some time mocked the 
man in this way, and had their fill of amusement, they 
would put a ladder down into the sea, and bid him step 
out and go away with their best wishes for a good journey; 
and if the man would not go, they pushed him into the 
water. 

Pompey directed his efforts against Cilicia, the source Pompey 

conquers 
and origin of the war. Neither did the enemy shrink from them, 

an engagement with him nor lose confidence in their 7 ' ' 

strength; hard pressed, they were willing to dare. They FIorusm - 6 - 

did no more than meet the first onset, however, for im- R om ?> *7 8 ; 

7 7 , Ancient 

mediately afterward when they saw the beaks of our ships World, 430 f 
encircling them, they threw down their weapons and oars, 
and with a great clapping of hands, which with them was 
a sign of supplication, begged for quarter. 

Never did we obtain a victory with so little bloodshed. 
Nor was any nation afterward found so faithful to us, — a 
state of things secured by the remarkable prudence of the 
general, who removed this maritime people far from the 
sight of the sea, and tied them down, as it were, to the in- 
land parts of the country. Thus he recovered the free use 
of the sea for ships, and at the same time restored to the 
land its own inhabitants. 

In this victory what shall we most admire? Its speed, 
as it was gained in forty days? Its good fortune, as not a 
single ship was lost? Or its durable effect, as the Cilicians 
in consequence were never afterward pirates? 

II. Cicero and Catiline 

At this time Lucius Catiline was a person of importance, 
of great celebrity, and high birth, but a madman. It was 



438 



The Revolution 



The 

Conspiracy 
of Catiline, 
63 B.C. 

Appian, Civil 
Wars, ii. 2. 

A ncient 
World, 432 f. 



His methods. 



believed that he had killed his own son because of his own 
love for Aurelia Orestilla, who was not willing to marry 
a man who had a son. He had been a friend and zealous 
partisan of Sulla. He had reduced himself to poverty in 
order to gratify his ambition, but still he was courted by 
the powerful, both men and women, and he became a 
candidate for the consulship as a step leading to absolute 
power. 

He confidently expected to be elected, but the suspicion 
of his ulterior designs defeated him; and Cicero, the most 
eloquent orator and rhetorician of the period, was chosen 
instead. Catiline, by way of raillery and contempt for 
those who voted for Cicero, called him a "New Man" on 
account of his obscure birth — for so they called those who 
achieved distinction by their own merits and not by those 
of their ancestors; and because he was not born in the 
city, Catiline called him a lodger, by which term they 
designate those who occupy houses belonging to others. 

From this time Catiline abstained wholly from politics 
as not leading quickly and surely to absolute power, but 
as full of the spirit of contention and malice. He procured 
much money from many women, who hoped that their 
husbands would be killed in the uprising; and he formed a 
conspiracy with a number of senators and knights, and 
collected together a body of plebeians, foreign residents, 
and slaves. His leading fellow-conspirators were Cornelius 
Lentulus and Cethegus, who were then the city praetors. 
He sent agents throughout Italy to those of Sulla's soldiers 
who had squandered the gains of their former life of 
plunder, and who longed for a renewal of violence. For 
this purpose he sent Gaius Manlius to Faesula in Etruria, 
and others to Picenum and Apulia, who enlisted soldiers 
for him secretly. 



Cicero Denounces Catiline 439 

All these facts, while they were still secret, were com- The 
municated to Cicero by Fulvia, a woman of quality. Her divulged, 
lover, Quintus Curius, who had been expelled from the Appian, 
senate for immorality, and was one of the conspirators, ^. tvtl Wars ' 
told her in a vain and boastful way that he would soon 
be in a position of great power. And now a rumor of 
what was transpiring in Italy was noised about. Accord- 
ingly Cicero stationed guards at intervals throughout the 
city, and sent many of the nobility to the suspected places 
to watch what was going on. 

(Catiline had the boldness to take his usual place in the Cicero 
senate, whereupon Cicero delivered against him a terrible Catiline, 
invective. Some extracts from this speech are given be- cicero, 

J ow \ Against Cati- 

*' line, i. 

How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience? How 
long will your frantic rage baffle the efforts of justice? To 
what height do you mean to carry your daring insolence? 
Are you not daunted by the nightly watch posted to secure 
the Palatine Hill? or by the city guards? or by the fear of 
the people? or by the union of all the wise and worthy 
citizens? or by the senate's assembling in this place of 
strength? or by the looks and faces of all here present? 
Do you not see that all your designs are brought to light? 
that the senators are thoroughly informed of your con- 
spiracy? that they are acquainted with what you did last 
night and the night before, your place of meeting, the 
company you summoned, and the measures you concerted? 
Alas for our degeneracy! alas for the depravity of the 
times; the senate is informed of this whole plot, the consul 
sees it, yet the traitor lives. Lives, did I say? He even 
comes into the senate; he shares in the public delibera- 
tions; he marks us out with his eye for destruction. We, 
bold in our country's cause, think we have sufficiently 



. 



44© 



The Revolution 



All hate 
Catiline. 



His country 
pleads with 
him. 



done our duty to the state, if we can but escape his rage 
and deadly darts. Long ago, Catiline, ought the consul to 
have ordered your execution, and to have directed upon 
your own head the ruin you have long been meditating 
against us all. . . . 

For my part, were my slaves to discover such a dread of 
me as your fellow-citizens express of you, I should think 
it necessary to abandon my own house; and do you hesitate 
to leave the city? Were I even wrongfully suspected, and 
thereby rendered obnoxious to my countrymen, I would 
sooner withdraw myself from public view than be beheld 
with looks full of reproach and indignation. And do you, 
whose conscience tells you that you are the object of a 
universal, just, and long-merited hatred, delay a moment 
to escape from the looks and presence of a people whose 
eyes and senses can no longer endure you among them? 
Should your parents dread and hate you, and resist all 
your efforts to appease them, you would doubtless with- 
draw from their sight. 

But now your country, the common parent of us all, 
hates and dreads you, and has long regarded you as a 
parricide, intent on the purpose of destroying her. And 
will you neither respect her authority, submit to her ad- 
vice, nor stand in awe of her power? Thus does she reason 
with you, Catiline; thus does she, though silent, in some 
manner address you: "Not an enormity has happened 
these many years but has had you for its author; not a 
crime has been perpetrated without you. The murder of 
so many of our citizens, the oppression and the plunder of 
our allies has through you alone escaped punishment, 
though carried on with unrestrained violence. You have 
found means not only to trample on law and justice but 
even to subvert and destroy them. Though this past 



Cicero against Catiline 441 

behavior of yours was beyond all patience, yet I have 
borne with it as I could; but now to be in continual fear 
of you alone, on every alarm to tremble at the name of 
Catiline, to see no plots formed against me which speak 
not of you as their author, is altogether insupportable. 
Begone, then, and rid me of my present terror; that if 
just, I may avoid ruin; if groundless, I may at length 
cease to fear ! . . . 

It is now a long time, senators, that we have trod amid All traitors 
the dangers and machinations of this conspiracy; but I thedty. 6 *™ 
know not how it comes to pass, that the full maturity of all 
those crimes, and of this long-ripening rage and insolence, 
has now broken out in the period of my consulship. Should 
he alone be removed from this powerful band of traitors, 
it may abate perhaps our fears and anxieties for a while, 
but the danger will still remain, and continue lurking 
in the veins and vitals of the republic. . . . Wherefore, 
senators, let the wicked retire; let them separate them- 
selves from the honest; let them gather in one place. As I 
have often said, let a wall be between them and us. Let 
them cease to lay snares for the consul in his own house, to 
beset the tribunal of the city praetor, to invest the senate- 
house with armed ruffians, and prepare fire-balls and 
torches for burning the city. In brief, let every man's 
sentiments regarding the republic be inscribed on his fore- 
head. 

This I engage for and promise, senators, that by the May Jupiter 
diligence of the consuls, the weight of your authority, the state and 
courage and firmness of the Roman knights, and the una- en^es? 8 
nimity of all who are honest, Catiline shall be driven forth 
from the city, and you shall behold all his treasons de- 
tected, exposed, crushed, and punished. With these 
omens of all prosperity to the republic but of destruction 



442 



The Revolution 



The 

11 Father 
of his 
Country." 



Appian, Civil 
Wars, ii. 7. 



to yourself, Catiline, and to those who have joined them- 
selves with you in all kinds of parricide, go your way to this 
impious and abominable war. And do thou, Jupiter, 
whose religion was established with the foundation of this 
city — thou whom we truly call the Stayer, the support and 
prop of this empire — drive this man and his associates 
from thy altars and temples, from the houses and walls 
of the city, from the lives and fortunes of us all; and de- 
stroy with eternal punishments, in life and death, all the 
haters of good men, all the enemies of their country, all 
the plunderers of Italy, now joined in this detestable 
league and partnership of villainy! 

(The traitor fled from Rome, and was soon afterward 
defeated and killed in battle. Meantime Cicero had ar- 
rested and put to death some chiefs of the conspiracy who 
remained in the city.) 

Such was the end of the uprising of Catiline, which 
brought the city into extreme peril. Cicero, who had 
hitherto been distinguished only for eloquence, was now 
in everybody's mouth as a man of action, and was con- 
sidered unquestionably the saviour of his country on the 
eve of its destruction. For this reason the thanks of the 
assembly were bestowed upon him amid general acclama- 
tions. At the instance of Cato the people saluted him 
Father of his Country. 



His consul- 
ship, 59 B.C. 

Suetonius, 
Julius 
C&sar, 20. 



III. Cesar's Consulship; his Campaigns in Gaul 

After entering upon his consulship, he introduced a new 
regulation, that the daily acts of the senate and of the 
assemblies should be committed to writing and pub- 
lished. . . . 

When he presented to the people a bill for the division of 
some public lands, the other consul opposed him. There- 



Caesar 



443 



upon Caesar violently drove his colleague from the Forum. Ancient 
Next day in the senate the insulted consul complained of 
his ill treatment; but no one had the courage to bring the 
matter forward or move a censure, which had often been 
done in the case of less important outrages. Caesar's col- 
league was so much dispirited, therefore, that till the expi- 
ration of his office he never stirred from home, and did 
nothing but issue edicts to obstruct the other consul's pro- 
ceedings. 

From that time, therefore, Caesar had the sole manage- 
ment of public affairs; so that some wags, when they signed 
any document as witnesses, did not add "in the consulship 
of Caesar and Bibulus," but "of Julius and Caesar," putting 
the same person down twice under his name and surname. 
The following verses, too, were repeated with reference 
to this matter: 

Nothing was done in Bibulus' year; 
No, Caesar only was consul here. 

Such was the course of Caesar's life before his Gallic His cam- 
campaigns. But the period of the wars which he now car- Gaul, 58-50 
ried on, and of the expedition by which he subdued Gaul, BC * 
is a new beginning in his career and the opening of a new P lutarch » 
course of life and action, in which he showed himself a sol- 
dier and a general inferior to none who have gained admira- 
tion as leaders of men. For whether we compare Caesar's 
exploits with those of the Fabii, the Scipios, and the Metelli, 
or with those of his contemporaries or immediate prede- 
cessors, — Sulla and Marius and both the Luculli or even 
Pompey himself, whose fame, high as the heavens, was 
blossoming at that time in every kind of military excel- 
lence, — Caesar will be found to surpass them all. 

His superiority over one appears in the difficulties of the 



444 



The Revolution 



The druids. 

Caesar, 
Gallic War, 
vi. 13. 



They are 
the judges. 



country in which he carried on his campaigns, over another 
in the extent of country subdued, over a third in the num- 
ber and courage of the enemy whom he defeated, over 
another again in the savage manners and treacherous char- 
acter of the nations which he civilized, over a fourth in 
clemency and mildness to the conquered, over another 
again in his donations and liberality to his soldiers; and in 
a word, his superiority over all other generals appears in 
the number of battles which he fought and of enemies 
whom he slew. 

For in somewhat less than ten years, during which he 
carried on his campaigns in Gaul, he took by storm eight 
hundred cities, and subdued three hundred nations, and 
fought at different times against three millions of men, of 
whom he destroyed one million in battle and took as many 
prisoners. 

Throughout Gaul are two orders of men who have rank 
and dignity; for the common people are held almost in the 
condition of slaves; they dare do nothing of themselves, 
and take no part in deliberation. The greater number, 
when pressed by debt or by heavy taxes or oppressed by 
the more powerful, give themselves up in vassalage to the 
nobles, who possess over them the same rights without ex- 
ception as masters exercise over their slaves. Of these two 
orders of nobles one is that of the druids, the other that 
of the knights. The former are engaged in religious duties; 
they conduct the public and private sacrifices and interpret 
all matters of religion. 

To this class a large number of young men resort for 
instruction and all hold the druids in high honor. For 
these priests decide almost all controversies, public and 
private; and if any crime has been perpetrated, if murder 
has been committed, or if there is any dispute about in- 



Gallic Society 445 

heritance or about boundaries, these same persons decide 
it. They decree rewards and punishments; and if any one 
either publicly or privately refuses to submit to their de- 
cision, they interdict him from the sacrifices. This among 
them is the heaviest punishment. Those who have been 
thus interdicted are esteemed impious and criminal: all 
shun them and avoid their society and conversation, lest 
they receive some evil from the contact; neither is justfce 
administered to them when they seek it, nor is any dignity 
bestowed on them. 

Over all these druids one presides, who possesses supreme Their organ- 
authority among them. On his death any individual who 
is preeminent in dignity succeeds; but if many are equal, 
the election is made by the votes of the druids; sometimes 
they even contend in arms for the presidency. The mem- 
bers of the class gather at a fixed period of the year in a 
consecrated place in the territory of the Carnutes, which 
is considered the central region of the whole of Gaul. 
Hither all who have disputes assemble from every quarter, 
and submit to their decrees and decisions. This institution 
is supposed to have been devised in Britain, and to have 
been brought over from there to Gaul ; and now those who 
wish to gain a more accurate knowledge of that system go 
thither for the purpose of studying it. 

Whatever sums of money the husbands have received as The family, 
dowry with their wives, they estimate, and add the same Caesar, 

J , . . J . . P , . Gallic War, 

amount from their own estates. An account is kept of this vi. 19. 

whole sum and the profits are laid by; so that the one who 
survives the other may receive the portion of both, to- 
gether with the profits. Husbands have power of life and 
death over their wives as well as over their children. When 
the father of a family of uncommonly high rank has died, 
his kinsmen assemble; and if the circumstances of his death 



446 



The Revolution 



are suspicious, they investigate the conduct of the wives 
in the same way as that of slaves; and if proof is obtained, 
they put the wives to severe torture and kill them. 
Funerals. In view of the state of civilization among the Gauls, their 

funerals are magnificent and costly. As one of the funeral 
rites they cast into the fire all those possessions of the de- 
ceased, including living creatures, which they suppose to 
have been dear to him in his life. Until lately slaves and 
clients who were known to have been beloved by the de- 
ceased were burned with his body at the close of the funeral 
rites. 



Honors to 
Caesar. 

Appian, Civil 
Wars, ii. 106. 

A ncient 
World, 439- 

42. 



IV. Cesar as Dictator 

After ending the civil wars Caesar hastened to Rome, 
honored and feared as no one had ever been before. All 
kinds of honors were devised for his gratification without 
stint, even such as were more than human, — sacrifices, 
games, statues in all the temples and public places, by 
every tribe, by all the provinces, and by the kings in al- 
liance with Rome. His portrait was painted in various 
forms, and in some cases crowned with oak as that of the 
saviour of his country. ... He was proclaimed the 
Father of his Country and chosen dictator for life, and his 
person was declared sacred and inviolable. It was decreed 
that he should transact business on a throne of ivory and 
gold; that he should always perform his sacerdotal func- 
tions in triumphal dress; that each year the city should 
celebrate the days on which he had won his victories; 
that every five years the priests and Vestal virgins should 
offer up public prayers for his safety; and that the magis- 
trates immediately after their inauguration should take 
an oath not to oppose any of Caesar's decrees. In honor of 
his gens the name of the month Quintilis was changed to 



Dictatorship of Caesar 447 

July. Many temples were decreed to him as to a god, and 
one was dedicated in common to him and the goddess 
Clemency, who were represented as clasping hands. 

Thus while they feared his power they besought his His 
mercy. Some proposed to give him the title of king, but C emency * 
when he learned of their purpose he forbade it with threats, cM*Wars, 
for he said it was an inauspicious name by reason of the "■ io7 - 
curse of their ancestors. He dismissed the pretorian co- (Pretorian 

1 1 • i i i 1 i'ii 11. 1 cohorts, com- 

norts which had served as his bodyguard during the wars, parries of 
and he showed himself with the ordinary public attendants guarded The 

Only. . • . prcetorium, 

J ' or general's 

He received all the honors conferred upon him excepting tent.) 
the ten-year consulship. As consuls for the ensuing year 
he designated himself and Antony, his master of horse, and 
he appointed Lepidus master of horse in place of Antony. 
Lepidus at this time was governor of Spain, but was admin- 
istering his province through friends. Caesar recalled all 
exiles excepting those who had been banished for some 
grave offence. He pardoned his enemies, and many of 
those who had fought against him he forthwith advanced 
to the yearly magistracies or to the command of provinces 
and of armies. The wearied people therefore especially 
hoped he would restore the republic to them, as Sulla did 
after he had grasped the same power. But in this respect 
they were disappointed. 

While the talk about the kingship was going on, and just The 
before a session of the senate, Cassius met Brutus, and seiz- consp cy ' 
ing him by the hand, said, " What shall we do in the senate- cSirfirars, 
house if Caesar's flatterers propose a decree to make him u - II3- 
king?" "I shall not be there," Brutus replied. Then 
Cassius asked him further, "What if we are summoned p ™^ r J ,T ^ e 
there as praetors, what shall we do then, my good Brutus? " well as sena- 
"I will defend my country to the death," he answered, their service 



448 



The Revolution 



as magis- 
trates might 
be needed at 
the meeting.) 



lb. 114. 



The conspir- 
ators kill 
Caesar, 44 
B.C. 

Appian, Civil 
Wars, ii. 117. 



Cassius embraced him, saying, " Which of the nobility will 
you allow to share your thoughts?" . . . Thus did they 
disclose to each other what they had been privately think- 
ing about for a long time. Each of them tested those of 
their own and of Caesar's friends whom they considered the 
most courageous of either faction. 

When they thought they had a sufficient number, and 
that it would not be wise to divulge the plot to any more, 
they pledged each other without oaths or sacrifices, yet no 
one changed his mind or betrayed the secret. They sought 
a time and place. Time was pressing because Caesar was 
to depart on his campaign four days hence and would then 
have a bodyguard of soldiers. They chose the senate as 
the place, believing that though all the senators did not 
know of it beforehand, they would join heartily when they 
saw the deed. 

The conspirators had left Trebonius, one of their num- 
ber, to engage Antony in conversation at the door. The 
others with concealed daggers stood like friends around 
Caesar as he sat in his chair. Then one of them, Tullius 
Cimber, came up in front of him and petitioned him for 
the recall of his brother, who had been banished. When 
Caesar answered that the matter must be deferred, Cimber 
seized hold of his purple robe as though still urging the 
petition, and pulled it away so as to expose his neck; at 
the same time he exclaimed, " Friends, what are you wait- 
ing for?" Then Casca, who was standing over Caesar's 
head, first drove a dagger at his throat, but missed the 
aim and wounded him in the breast. Caesar snatched his 
toga from Cimber, seized Casca's hand, sprang from his 
chair, turned round and hurled Casca with great violence. 
While Caesar was in this position, another one stabbed 
him with a dagger in the side . . . Cassius wounded him 



Caesar's Death; Character 449 

in the face, Brutus smote him in the thigh, and Bucolianus 
between the shoulder-blades. 

With rage and outcries Caesar turned now upon one and 
now upon another like a wild animal, but after receiving 
the wound from Brutus he despaired, and veiling himself 
with his robe, he fell prostrate at the foot of Pompey's 
statue. After he had fallen they continued their attack 
till he received twenty-three wounds. 

When the will of Caesar was opened, and the people The funeral, 
learned that he had given a handsome present to every Plutarch, 
Roman, and they saw the body as it was carried through C(Zsar > 68 - 
the Forum, disfigured with wounds, the multitude no 
longer kept within the bounds of propriety and order, but 
taking from the Forum benches, lattices, and tables, they 
heaped them about the corpse, and set fire to the pile and 
burned the body on the spot. Then seizing the flaming 
pieces of wood, they ran to the houses of the conspirators 
to fire them, and others hurried about the city in all direc- 
tions in search of the murderers to seize and tear them to 
pieces. 

He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was ranked His spirit, 
among the gods, not only by a formal decree but also in Suetonius, 
the belief of the people. For during the first games which 3 q^. 33 
Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his memory, a comet 
blazed seven days together, rising always about eleven 
o'clock; and the people thought it was the soul of Caesar 
now received into heaven. 

That mighty superhuman spirit, which had accompanied 
him through life, followed him even in death; the avenger 
of his murder, it ran through every land and sea, to hunt Plutarch, 
and track down his assassins till not one of them was left — 
it pursued even those who in any way whatever had put 
their hand to the deed or had shared in the plot. 



45° 



The Revolution 



Care of the 
streets. 

Julian Munic. 
Law, 7. 
This law was 
probably 
passed in 46 
B.C. It is 
preserved in 
an inscrip- 
tion. The 
translation 
is by Dr. 
R. R. Blews. 



Division of 
the city 
among 

the aediles. 

lb. 8. 



Contracts for 
maintaining 
the streets. 

lb. 11. 



V. The Municipal Law of Julius Cesar 

With regard to those streets which are or shall be in the 
city of Rome or within a radius of one mile from the city 
of Rome, — wherever this zone shall be continually built 
up, — the owner of any building before which any such 
street shall run, shall maintain the same to the satisfaction 
of the aedile, to whom this part of the city shall have been 
assigned in accordance with this law; and that aedile shall 
see to it that all persons, before whose buildings any 
streets run, which they shall be obliged by this law sever- 
ally to maintain, shall severally maintain the same to his 
satisfaction; and he shall see to it that no water remains 
standing in any such place which would hinder the public 
from the convenient use of the street. 

The curule aediles and the plebeian aediles who are now 
in office, and whoever after the passing of this law shall 
have been made or created aediles or shall have entered 
upon this office, shall, within the next five days after they 
shall have been elected or shall have entered upon this 
office, decide either by agreement or by lot in what part 
of the city each one of them shall have charge of the re- 
pairing and paving of the streets in the city of Rome or 
within a mile of the city of Rome, and shall have super- 
vision of that work. In those places which shall be in the 
district thus assigned to each one of the aediles in ac- 
cordance with this law, he shall have supervision of the 
repairing and maintenance of the streets, as shall be re- 
quired in accordance with this law. 

In the case of a street for the maintenance of which a 
contract in conformity with this law must be let, the aedile 
whose duty it shall be to let the contract for the main- 
tenance of this street shall let out the same through the 



Supervision of Streets 451 

urban quaestor or whoever shall be in charge of the treas- 
ury: the contractor shall agree to maintain the street to the 
satisfaction of him who shall have caused the contract for 
the street to have been let out. The urban quaestor or 
whoever shall be in charge of the treasury shall cause the 
amount of money for which each street shall have been 
let out to be given or assigned to the contractor, to whom 
under the terms of the lease it should have been given, 
or to his heir. 

Any one before whose building a sidewalk shall run, Sidewalks, 
shall keep the same properly paved with unworn stones /&. 13. 
over the whole space in front of the building, to the satis- 
faction of that aedile who under this law, shall have charge 
of the streets in that district. 

After the next Calends of January no one shall lead or The use of 
guide a vehicle during the day, between sunrise and the the streets, 
twelfth hour of the day, in any streets which are or shall /$, 14> 
be within the city of Rome, or within those outlying dis- 
tricts which shall be built up continuously with the city, 
except in the case of anything which ought to be brought 
or conveyed for use in building temples of the immortal 
gods or for use in carrying on public works, or unless any 
of those things, for the demolition of which a contract 
has been let at public expense, ought to be removed at the 
public expense from the city or from the districts aforesaid; 
and in these cases permission to lead or drive vehicles 
shall be given under this law to specified persons for speci- 
fied reasons. 

Nothing is enacted by this law by virtue of which Exceptions 
vehicles may not be led or driven in the city in the day- above given, 
time for the following reasons and on the following days: n. 15. 
the days on which the Vestal virgins, the rex sacrorum, and ^ nc i mt 
the flamens shall be obliged to ride in carriages within World, 333 *• 



45 2 



The Revolution 



Municipal 
magistrates. 

Julian 
Munic. Law, 
23- 

Qualifications 
for office. 

The chief 
magistrates 
were a "board 
of two" — 
duoviri — like 
the consuls, 
or less com- 
monly a 
"board of 
four" — 
quattuoviri. 



Councillor, 
decurion, 
conscriptus — 
all applied to 
members of 
the munici- 
pal council — 
"alderman." 
Sesterce, 
about s cents. 



the city on account of public religious rites of the Roman 
people; whatever vehicles must be driven because of a 
triumph on the day on which any one shall celebrate a 
triumph; whatever vehicles it shall be necessary to lead 
or drive either because of games which shall be held at 
public expense in Rome or within one mile of the city of 
Rome, or in the processions at the Circensian games. 

Upon the expiration of one year after the next Calends 
of January no one who is or shall be less than thirty years 
of age shall seek, accept, or hold the office of duovir or 
quattuorvir or any other magistracy in a municipium, 
a colony, or a prefecture, unless he shall have served three 
years in the legionary cavalry or six years in the legionary 
infantry, — such military service to have been performed 
in camp or in a province during the greater part of each 
year or during half years, two of which may be properly 
credited to him as equal to a whole year, with whatever 
time shall properly be credited to him in accordance with 
laws or resolutions of the plebs, — or unless he shall be 
exempt from military service in accordance with laws 
or resolutions of the plebs or in execution of a treaty by 
reason of which he cannot properly be required to serve 
against his will. Nor shall any one whose occupation 
shall be that of a public crier or that of an undertaker's 
assistant or that of an undertaker, — so long as he shall 
be engaged in any of these occupations, — seek, accept, 
hold, or have the office of duovir, or quattuorvir, or any 
other magistracy in a municipium, a colony, or a prefec- 
ture ; nor shall he serve or give his vote as a councillor or 
a decurion or a conscriptus in that place. If any one 
of those who are mentioned above, shall have acted in 
contravention of these provisions, he shall be liable to 
pay to the people a fine of 50,000 sesterces; and who- 



Municipal Census 453 

ever wishes shall have the right to enter suit for this 
money. 
Whoever in the municipia, colonies, or prefectures of Census-tak- 

„ . . , . . . , . ingin the 

Roman citizens, — whatever municipia, colonies, or pre- municipia. 

fectures, there are or shall be in Italy, — shall hold the /&. 2 8. 

highest magistracy or the highest office there at the time 

when the censor or any other magistrate is about to take 

the census of the people at Rome, he, within the next 

sixty days after he shall know that the census of the people 

is to be taken at Rome, shall take the census of all the 

members of his municipium, colony, or prefecture who 

shall be Roman citizens ; and he shall cause them to declare 

under oath their gentile names, personal names, fathers 

or patrons, tribes, family names, how old each one of 

them is and the amount of his wealth, in accordance with 

the formula of the census which shall have been set forth 

at Rome by him who at that time shall be about to take 

the census of the people. 

He shall see that all these data are entered in the public Records of 

the census, 
records of his municipality; and he shall send these re- 
ports to those who shall take the census at Rome, through 
delegates whom the majority of the decurions or con- 
scripti shall have elected by vote to be delegates and 
envoys for this purpose at the time when the matter was 
taken into consideration; and not less than sixty days 
before the day when those who take the census at Rome 
(whoever they may be) have completed the census of the 
people, he shall see to it that the delegates appear before 
them and present the reports of that municipium, colony, 
or prefecture; and the censor or whatever other magis- 
trate shall take the census of the people, within the next 
five days after the arrival of the delegates from that 
municipium, colony, or prefecture, shall receive in good 



454 



The Revolution 



His birth. 

Suetonius, 
Augustus, 5. 

(Augustus is 
a title given 
Octavius by 
the senate.) 

Ancient 
World, 442 ff. 



lb. 6. 



His early 
life. 

Suetonius, 
Augustus, 



faith those reports of the census which shall be given by 
those delegates, and he shall see that their contents are 
copied in the public records and that these records are 
stored in the same place as the other public records in 
which the census of the people shall have been registered. 

VI. Octavius 

(Octavius, afterward named) Augustus, was born in 
the consulship of Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius An- 
tonius, a little before sunrise on the ninth day before the 
Calends of October, on Oxhead Street, Palatine Hill, in 
the place where now stands a chapel built a little after his 
death and dedicated to him. 

To this day his nursery may be seen in a villa belonging 
to the family, in the suburbs of Velitrae. It is a very small 
room, much like a pantry. Into this place no person dares 
intrude unless necessary, and then one enters with great 
devotion, for a belief has long prevailed that those who 
rashly intrude are seized with great horror and fear. This 
belief has recently been confirmed by a remarkable inci- 
dent. A new inhabitant of the house took up his lodging 
in that apartment, either by chance or to try the truth 
of the report. In the course of the night, however, a few 
hours after retiring, he was thrown out by some sudden 
violence, he knew not what, and was found stupefied, 
lying in his coverlet in front of the chamber door. 

When only four years old, Octavius lost his father; and 
in his twelfth year he pronounced a funeral oration in 
praise of his grandmother Julia. Four years later, when 
Octavius put on the dress of manhood, Caesar in his tri- 
umph over Africa honored him with several military re- 
wards, though on account of his youth he had taken no 
part in the war. 



Octavius 



455 



Octavius was the son of the daughter of Caesar's sister. 
He was appointed master of Caesar's horse for one year, 
for Caesar at times made this a yearly office, passing it 
round among his friends. While still a young man, he was 
sent by Caesar to Apollonia on the Adriatic coast to be 
educated and trained in the art of war, that he might ac- 
company Caesar on his expeditions. . . . 

At the end of a six months' sojourn in Apollonia, he re- 
ceived news one evening that Caesar had been killed in the 
senate-house by those who were dearest to the dictator, 
and who were at the time the most powerful persons under 
him. 

After the death of Cassius and Brutus, Octavius returned 
to Italy. Antony proceeded to Asia, where he met Cleo- 
patra, queen of Egypt. . . . 

After his expedition against the Parthians, he was dis- 
gusted with war and lived at ease. In this period he fell in 
love with Cleopatra, and as if his affairs were quite prosper- 
ous, he enjoyed himself in the queen's company. 

The Egyptian woman demanded of the drunken general, 
as the price of her love, nothing less than the Roman em- 
pire. This gift Antony promised her, as though the Ro- 
mans were easier to conquer than the Parthians. He there- 
fore aspired to the sovereignty, not secretly, but forgetting 
his country, his name, toga, and fasces, and degenerating 
wholly in thought, feeling, and dress, into a monster. In 
his hand was a golden sceptre, and a simitar by his side. 
His robe was of purple clasped with enormous jewels; and 
he wore a diadem that he might dally with the queen as 
a king. 

At the first report of these proceedings, Caesar (Octa- 
vianus) had crossed the sea from Brundisium to meet the 
approaching war. . . . We had more than four hundred 



Appian, Civil 
Wars, iii. y. 



Antony and 
Cleopatra. 

Appian, Civil 
Wars, v. i. 

Florus iv. n. 



(Or scimitar, 
an Oriental 
sword.) 



The battle 
off Actium, 
31 B.C. 



456 The Revolution 

vessels, the enemy about two hundred, but the size of the 
enemy's ships made up for their inferiority in number. 
With from six to nine banks of oars, mounted with towers 
and high decks, they moved along like castles and cities; 
the seas groaned under them and the wind was fatigued. 

Their great size, however, was their destruction. Caesar's 
vessels had from three to six banks of oars but no more. 
Ready for all that necessity required, whether for charging, 
retreating, or wheeling round, they attacked several of 
those heavy vessels at a time. In these encounters Caesar's 
men hurled missiles and rammed with the beaks of their 
ships; they threw fire-brands into the enemy's vessels and 
dispersed them at pleasure. The greatness of the enemy's 
force was shown by nothing so much as by what happened 
after the victory. Shattered in the engagement, the vast 
fleet spread the spoils of Arabs, Sabaeans, and a thousand 
other Asiatic nations over the whole face of the deep. The 
waves, driven onward by the winds, continually threw up 
purple and gold on the shore. 

The queen began the flight; she made off into the open 
sea with her gilded vessel and sails of purple. Antony 
immediately followed. 
The end of But Caesar pursued hard on their track. . . . First An- 
cieopatra. tony raised his sword against himself. The queen, falling 
at Caesar's feet, tempted his eyes in vain, for her charms 
were too weak to overcome the prince's self-restraint. Her 
suit was not for life, which he offered her, but for a portion 
of the kingdom. As she despaired of obtaining this from 
Caesar, and saw that she was reserved for his triumph, she 
took advantage of the negligence of her guard, and with- 
drew into a mausoleum, as the sepulchre of a king is called. 
There after putting on her best apparel . . . she placed 
herself by her dear Antony in a coffin filled with rich per- 



Propertius; Lucretius 457 

fumes, and applying serpents to her veins, she died a 
death-like sleep. 

VII. The Poetry of the Age 

Tell My Sister 

Soldier, that fliest from thy comrade's fall, "I wish I 

Though weak and wounded 'neath Perusia's wall; h^i^"^ m 

Heed not my dying groan, nor weep for me, 

For I am but a soldier like to thee. Propertius i. 

21. 
But to my sister the sad tale deplore — 

So mayst thou glad thy parent's heart once more — (Perusia, 

How Gallus 'scaped from Caesar's armed bands, besieged by 

To fall unhonored here by felon's hands. Caesar 

If o'er the Tuscan wold she haply see 4 1-40 ^C^) 

Some scattered bones, 'tis all she'll find of me. 

The Origin of Belief in the Gods 

And now what cause has spread over great nations the "Why build 

worship of the divinities of the gods, and filled towns with temples?" 

altars, and led to the performance of stated rites, — rites Lucretius, 

now in fashion on solemn occasions and in solemn places, ^"/^V^" 

from which even now is implanted in mortals a shuddering World, 5. 

awe which raises new temples of the gods over the whole 

earth, and prompts men to crowd them on festive days, all 

this is not so difficult to explain in words. 

In sooth the races of mortal men would see in waking "9°? 

religion 
mind glorious forms, would see them in sleep of yet more rests (1) on 

marvellous size of body. To these forms they would at- 
tribute sense, because they seemed to move their limbs and 
to utter lofty words suitable to their glorious aspect and 
surpassing powers. And men would attribute to them life 
everlasting, because their face would ever appear and their 
form abide; yes, and yet without all this reasoning, because 
men would not believe that beings possessed of such powers 



dreams, 



458 



The Revolution 



(2) on 
observing 
the activi- 
ties of 
nature." 



"Why 
do we wor- 
ship? » 



"Doubts 
that trouble 
us." 



could lightly be overcome by any force. They would be- 
lieve such beings to be preeminent in bliss, because none of 
them was ever troubled with fear of death, and because at 
the same time in sleep persons would see them perform 
many miracles, without feeling fatigue from the effort. 

Again men would see the system of heaven and the dif- 
ferent seasons of the year come round in regular succession, 
and could not find out by what causes this was done; there- 
fore they would seek a refuge in handing over all things to 
the gods, and in supposing all things to be guided by their 
nod. And they placed in heaven the abodes and realms of 
the gods, because night and moon are seen to roll through 
heaven, — moon, day, and night, and night's austere con- 
stellations, and night-wandering meteors of the sky, and 
flying bodies of flame, clouds, sun, rains, snow, winds, 
lightnings, hail, and rapid rumblings, and loud threatful 
thunder-claps. 

O hapless race of men, when they charged the gods with 
such acts and coupled with them bitter wrath! what groan- 
ings did they then beget for themselves, what wounds for 
us, what tears for their children's children! No act is it of 
piety to be often seen, with veiled head, to look to a stone 
and approach every altar and fall prostrate on the ground 
and spread out the palms before the statues of the gods and 
sprinkle the altars with much blood of beasts and link vow 
on vow, but rather to be able to view all things with mind 
at peace. 

For when we turn our gaze on the heavenly quarters of 
the great upper world and ether, fast above the glittering 
stars, and direct our thoughts to the courses of the sun and 
moon, then into our breasts burdened with other ills, that 
fear as well begins to exalt its reawakened head, the fear 
that we may haply find the power of the gods to be un- 



Origin of Religion 459 

limited, able to wheel the bright stars in their unvaried 
motion; for lack of power to solve the question troubles the 
mind with doubts, whether there was ever a birth-time of 
the world, and whether likewise there is to be any end; how 
far the walls of the world can endure this strain of restless 
motion; or whether gifted by the grace of the gods with an 
everlasting existence, they may glide on through a never- 
ending tract of time and defy the strong powers of im- 
measurable ages. 

Again who is there whose mind does not shrink into itself Religious 

fear, 
with fear of the gods, whose limbs do not cower with terror, 

when the parched earth rocks with the appalling thunder- 
stroke and rattlings run through the great heaven? Do not 
peoples and nations quake, and proud monarchs shrink into 
themselves, smitten with fear of the gods, lest for any foul 
transgression or overweening word the heavy time of reck- 
oning has arrived at its fulness? When too the utmost fury 
of the headstrong wind passes over the sea, and sweeps 
over its waters does not the commander of the fleet, to- 
gether with his mighty legions and elephants, draw near 
with vows, to seek the mercy of the gods and ask in prayer 
with fear and trembling a lull in the winds, and propitious 
gales? But all in vain, for often caught up in the furious 
hurricane, he is borne none the less to the shoals of death; 
so constantly does some hidden power trample on human 
grandeur, and is seen to tread under its heel, and make 
sport for itself, the renowned rods and cruel axes. 

Again when the whole earth rocks under their feet, and 
towns tumble with the shock, or doubtfully threaten to 
fall, what wonder that mortal men abase themselves and 
make over to the gods, in things here on earth, high pre- 
rogatives and marvellous powers, sufficient to govern all 
things? 



460 



The Revolution 



Mankind's First Music 

An imitation Imitating with the mouth the clear notes of birds was in 
of nature. 

use, and gave pleasure to the ear, long before men were 

able to sing in tune smooth-running verses. And the whis- 
tlings of the zephyr through the hollow reeds first taught 
peasants to blow into hollow stalks. Then step by step 
they learned sweet plaintive ditties, which the pipe pours 
forth when pressed by the fingers of the players — heard 
through pathless woods and forests and lawns, through the 
unfrequented haunts of shepherds and abodes of unearthly 
calm. These things would soothe and gratify their minds 
when they were sated with food; for then all things of this 
kind are welcome. 

Often therefore stretched in groups on the soft grass be- 
side a stream of water, under the boughs of a high tree, they 
at no great cost would pleasantly refresh their bodies, — 
above all when the weather smiled and the seasons of the 
year painted the green grass with flowers. Then went 
round the jest, the tale, the peals of merry laughter; for the 
peasant muse was then in its glory; then frolic mirth would 
prompt to entwine head and shoulders with garlands 
plaited with flowers and leaves, and to advance in the 
dance out of step, and move the limbs clumsily and with 
clumsy foot beat mother earth; this would cause smiles 
and peals of merry laughter, because all these things then, 
from their greater novelty, were in high repute. 



"Don't 
smile to 
show your 
teeth." 



The Man with White Teeth 

Because Egnatius' teeth are nicely white, 
To grin and show them is his sole delight. 
If haply at some trial he appear, 
Where eloquence commands the gushing tear, 



A Refuge from Care 

He grins.— If, at a pile, the duteous son, 
The childless mother weeps, for ever gone, 
He grins. — In short, whate'er the time or place, 
Do as he may, the grin still marks his face: 
'Tis his disease; and speaking as I feel, 
I cannot call it decent or genteel. 



461 



Catullus, 39. 
(A funeral 
pile.) 



To My Farm 

(Complaining of Sextius' Trashy Oration) 

Whether, my farm, the Sabine bounds 
Or Tibur hold thy peaceful grounds; 

— For those who love me like a friend 
Call thee of Tibur; those who come 
To vex my pride, with any sum 

That thou art Sabine will contend. — 



"Is my 
farm at 
Tibur or in 
Sabina? " 

Catullus, 44. 



But whether that, or truly classed 

'Mong Tibur's lands, well pleased I've passed 

Some days in thy sequestered seat. 
Thou from my loaded breast hast driven 
A cough my stomach's sins had given, 

Deserved by many a costly treat. 



And when I plainly hoped to feed 
As Sextius' guest, my host would read 

His speech 'gainst Attius, made of old. 
'Twas full of poison and disease; 
It made me shiver, made me sneeze, 

And gave me a bad cough and cold. 

At length I fled into thy breast; 
And there with medicine and rest 

Have cured myself in little time: 
So now in health and spirits gay, 
My warmest thanks to thee I pay, 

Who thus hast done away my crime. 



"His speech 
gave me a 
cold." 



462 The Revolution 

And when I e'er again shall go 

To hear his works, may they bestow 

Their cough and cold, not on my head, 
But upon Sextius' self, who ne'er 
Asks me to sup, but when the fare 

Is hearing his own nonsense read! 



STUDIES 

1. Why were the Romans fond of Pompey? To what political 
party did he belong? Was he or Sertorius the greater general? What 
light do the wars with Spartacus and the pirates throw on the condi- 
tion of the Roman government? 

2. Give an account of Catiline's conspiracy. Describe his char- 
acter. What are the points made by Cicero in the speech 
partly quoted? What reward did he receive for his patriotic 
energy? 

3. Who are the authors of these selections on Caesar, and what is 
the value of each for history? What was the policy of Caesar as 
consul? Give an account of the Gallic druids; the Gallic family and 
funeral customs. 

4. What honors were voted Caesar as dictator? What was his 
policy in this office? Give an account of the conspiracy. What esti- 
mate of his character do we gain from these selections? 

5. What provisions were made for the care of the streets by the 
Julian municipal law? What magistrates had charge of such matters? 
What restriction was placed on the use of vehicles? What were the 
qualifications of the higher municipal magistrates? What regulations 
were made concerning the census? What was done with the census 
records? 

6. Give an account of the family and early life of Octavius (Augus- 
tus). How did he win the battle off Actium? 

7. Explain the poem, "Tell my Sister." Who was the author (cf. 
ch. xxviii)? 

8. Who was Lucretius (cf. ch. xxviii)? What in his opinion was 
the origin of the religion of his countrymen? Does he consider 
their religion good or bad? What doubts troubled his countrymen? 
What caused religious fear? What in his opinion was the first music 
of mankind? 



Review 463 



9. Who was Catullus (cf. ch. xxviii)? What was wrong about the 
smile of Egnatius? Why did the poet prefer Tibur to the Sabine 
country? What quality of his friends' oration gave the poet a cold? 
How did he recover from it? 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

THE FOUNDING OF THE PRINCIPATE; AUGUSTUS 
AND TIBERIUS 



Suetonius, 
Augustus, 76. 



Ancient 
World, 451 ff 



I. Personal Traits of Augustus 

His diet. He ate sparingly (for I must not omit even this), and 

commonly used a plain diet. He was particularly fond of 
coarse bread, small fishes, new cheese made of cow's milk, 
and green figs of the sort which bear fruit twice a year. He 
did not wait for supper, but took food at any time and in 
any place when he had an appetite. The following pas- 
sages relative to this subject, I have transcribed from his 
letters. "I ate a little bread and some small dates in my 
carriage." Again : " On returning home from the pontifical 
palace in my litter, I ate an ounce of bread and a few 
raisins." Again: "Not even a Jew, my dear Tiberius, ever 
keeps such strict fast on the Sabbath as I have to-day; for 
while in the bath, and after the first hour of the night, I 
only ate two biscuits before I began to be rubbed with 
oil." From this great indifference about his diet, he some- 
times supped by himself, before the banquet began or after 
it had finished, and would not touch a morsel at table 
with his guests. 

Use of wine. He was by nature extremely sparing in the use of wine. 

Suet. Aug. 77. Cornelius Nepos says that he used to drink only three 
times at supper in the camp at Mutina; and when he in- 
dulged himself the most, he never exceeded a pint. . . . 

During the whole course of his life, he suffered at times 
dangerous fits of sickness, especially after the conquest of 

464 



His fea- 
tures. 



Personal Character; Government 465 

Cantabria, when he was reduced to such a condition that Nearly ai- 

wo.vs ill 

he was obliged to undergo a desperate and doubtful method 
of cure; for warm applications having no effect, Antonius 
Musa directed the use of those which were cold. He was 
likewise subject to fits of sickness at stated times every 
year; for about his birthday he was commonly a little in- 
disposed. In the beginning of spring he was attacked by 
an inflation of the midriff; and when the wind was 
southerly, with a cold in his head. By all these com- 
plaints, his constitution was so shattered that he could 
not easily bear either heat or cold. 

The eyes of Augustus were bright and piercing; and he 
was willing to have people think there was divine vigor in 
them. His teeth were thin set, small and scaly, his hair a 
little curly, and inclined to a yellow color. His eyebrows 
met; his ears were small and he had an aquiline nose. His 
complexion was between brown and fair; his stature was 
low, though Julius Marathus, his freedman, says he was 
five feet nine inches in height. 

II. His Government 

In my sixth and seventh consulships, when I had put The repub- 
an end to the civil wars, after having obtained complete 
control of affairs by universal consent, I transferred the ^S!^! 
commonwealth from my own dominion to the authority of 
the senate and Roman people. In return for this favor on 
my part, I received by decree of the senate the title Au- 
gustus; the door-posts of my house were publicly decked 
with laurels, a civic crown was fixed above my door, and 
in the Julian curia was placed a golden shield, which by its (Julian sen- 

, . , . . , ,, ate-house.) 

inscriptions bore witness that it was given me by the senate 
and the Roman people on account of my valor, clemency, 
justice, and piety. After that time I excelled all others in 



466 The Founding of the Principate 



The found- 
ing of the 
principate. 

Dio Cassius, 
liii. 12. 

The begin- 
ning of this 
selection evi- 
dently refers 
to the pass- 
ing of a law 
which gave 
him consular 
power over 
certain prov- 
inces for ten 
years. 

Ancient 
World, 451 f- 



Provincial 
arrange- 
ments. 



dignity, but of power I held no more than those also held 
who were my colleagues in any magistracy. 

In this way he had his headship ratified by the senate 
and the people. As he wished even so to appear to be 
democratic in principle, he accepted all the care and super- 
intendence of public business on the ground that it re- 
quired expert attention, but said that he should not per- 
sonally govern all the provinces and those that he did 
govern he should not keep in his charge perpetually. The 
weaker ones, because (as he said) they were peaceful and 
free from war, he gave over to the senate. But the more 
powerful he held in possession because they were slippery 
and dangerous and either had enemies in adjoining terri- 
tory, or on their own account were able to cause a great 
uprising. His pretext was that the senate should fear- 
lessly gather the fruits of the finest portion of the empire 
while he himself had the labors and the dangers: the real 
purpose of this plan was that the senators be unarmed 
and unprepared for battle, while he alone had arms and 
kept soldiers. 

Africa and Numidia, Asia and Greece with Epirus, the 
Dalmatian and Macedonian territories, Sicily, Crete, and 
Libya adjacent to Crete, Bithynia with the adjoining 
Pontus, Sardinia and Baetica, were consequently held to 
belong to the people and senate. Caesar's were the re- 
mainder of Spain, the neighborhood of Tarraco and Lusi- 
tania, all Gauls (Narbonensis, the Lugdunensis, Aquitania, 
and Belgica). . . . These provinces, then, and the so- 
called Hollow Syria, Phoenicia and Cilicia, Cyprus and 
the Egyptians, fell at that time to Caesar's share. Later 
he gave Cyprus and Gaul adjacent to Narbo back to the 
people, and he himself took Dalmatia instead. This was 
also done subsequently in the case of other provinces as 



Oath of Loyalty 467 

the progress of my narrative will show. I have enumer- 
ated these in such detail because now each one of them is 
ruled separately whereas in old times and for a long period 
the provinces were governed two and three together. 

The others I have not mentioned because some of them Dependent 
were acquired later, and the rest, even if they had been al- 
ready subdued, were not being governed by the Romans, 
but either were left to enjoy their own laws, or had been 
turned over to some kingdom. All of them that after this 
came into the Roman empire were attached to the posses- 
sions of the man temporarily in power. This, then, was 
the division of the provinces. 

III. Oath of Loyalty to Augustus and to his 
Family 

Sworn by the Paphlagonians 

This document, in the Greek language, is preserved in an inscrip- 
tion. It belongs to the year 3 B.C. The occasion which called for 
this warm expression of allegiance may have been the unsettled con- 
dition of Rome's relations with Parthia and Armenia; it preceded by 
two years the diplomatic mission of Gaius, adopted son (born grand- 
son) of Augustus, to the Orient. The act, purely voluntary, testifies 
to the zealous affection for the ruling family cherished by the easterly 
provinces. The Romans who were engaged in business in Paphla- 
gonia joined in the oath. Translated by the editors. 

I swear by Zeus, Earth, and Sun, and all the gods and By all the 



goddesses, and by Augustus himself that I will be well- 
minded to Caesar Augustus and to his children throughout 
the whole time of life in word and deed and heart, regard- 
ing as friends whomsoever they so regard, and considering 
enemies whomsoever they so consider, that I will spare 
neither body nor soul nor life nor children in their interests, 
but in every way will endure every danger in their behalf, 



gods. 



468 The Founding of the Principate 

And whatever I see or hear against them, either said or 
plotted or done, that I will report, and will be an enemy to 
the one who says or plots or does any such thing. And 
whomsoever they judge to be enemies, such persons I will 
pursue and ward off by sea and land. But if I do anything 
in violation of this oath, and fail to fulfill it to the letter, 
I invoke upon myself and my body and soul and life, and 
upon my children and all my race, destruction and ruin 
even to the uttermost generation; and may neither earth 
nor sea receive the bodies of me and mine or of my chil- 
dren, and may not earth bear fruit for us. 

IV. The Centenary Festival (Ludi S^eculares) of the 
Year 17 B.C. 

In the upper classes of Rome at this time there seems to have been 
a widespread belief that the social legislation of Augustus, 18 B.C., 
marked the close of the reign of vice and the dawn of an age of purity. 
The "board of fifteen for performing sacred rites," among whom was 
Augustus, consulted the Sibylline Books, and found in them direc- 
tions to make ready, by the celebration of the Secular Games, for 
the pure reign of Apollo. Tradition declared that this festival was 
first celebrated in the early years of the Republic for the purpose of 
expelling a pestilence, and that it was repeated every century — or 
rather, every hundred and ten years. The latter was an era estab- 
lished by the Etruscans with the idea that it was the longest possible 
limit of human life. In addition to this Etruscan element, there were 
also Greek and Roman elements in the institution as it existed in the 
Augustan age. The following epigraphic account of the Augustan 
celebration of the festival is from the minutes of the "board of fif- 
teen," translated by the editors. 

In the following night in the Campus Martius, on the 
bank of the Tiber, Imperator Caesar Augustus sacrificed 
according to Greek rite nine female lambs, and nine she- 
goats, and prayed: .'. . "I pray and beseech you that 
ye augment the power and majesty of the Roman people 






Ludi Sasculares 469 

the quirites in war and peace, and that ye guard forever Quirites, a 

i-r. 1 iriiii primitive 

the Latin name, and grant eternal safety and health to term for 
the Roman people the quirites, and be propitious to the P ossibJy S ' 
Roman people the quirites, and to the legions of the Ro- meaning 

r r -1 » o "spearmen. 

man people the quirites, and keep safe the state of the 

Roman people the quirites; that ye may show yourselves Notice the 
„ . , , , r 11 1 t^ 11 dry formal- 

well-minded and favorable to the Roman people the ism of the 

quirites, to the college of fifteen, to me and my house and characteris- 
family, and that ye accept this sacrifice of nine female £ c of earlv 
lambs and nine she-goats offered unblemished; because ligion. 
of these matters, on account of this female lamb, offered 
without blemish, be and become ye favorable and propi- 
tious to the Roman people the quirites, to the college of 
fifteen, to me, to my house, and to my family." 

After the completion of these sacrifices, games were The hun- 
celebrated in the night on a stage with no theatre ad- ten ma- 
joined or seats placed; and a hundred and ten matrons, trons * 
according to instructions issued by the fifteen, held a 
sellisternia (women's banquet) to Juno and Diana, with 
two seats placed (for the goddesses). 

Then were celebrated the Latin games in the wooden The Latin 

games. 

theatre which had been erected in the Campus next to 
the Tiber, and in the same form the matrons held the 
sellisternia, nor were interrupted those games which had 
been begun in the night. . . . 

Then to the hundred and ten married matrons, to whom 
the order had been issued, M. Agrippa dictated a prayer 
in the following words: 

" Juno queen, — and may it be well to the Roman people Prayer of 
the quirites — the married matrons on their knees beseech 
thee to augment in war and peace the majesty of the 
Roman people the quirites, always to protect the Latin 
name, to bestow eternal safety, victory and strength on 



470 The Founding of the Principate 

the Roman people the quirites, grant thy favor to the 
Roman people the quirites and to the legions of the Roman 
people the quirites, keep safe the republic of the Roman 
people the quirites, be good-willed and propitious to the 
Roman people the quirites, to the ' fifteen for performing 
the sacred rites' and to us. . . . These things we, the hun- 
dred and ten married matrons of the Roman people the 
quirites on our bended knees beg and beseech of thee." 

[Reference is then made to further rites including a 
sacrifice and prayer to Terra Mater and to Apollo and 
Diana on the Palatine Mount.] 

After the completion of this sacrifice twenty-seven boys 
to whom it had been ordered, whose fathers and mothers 
were both alive, and the same number of girls (of the same 
description) sang a hymn (on the Palatine) and in the 
same way on the Capitoline. 

Q. Horatius Flaccus composed the hymn. 

[The festival closed with various other ceremonies]. 



V. From the Secular Hymn 

To Apollo and Diana 

Ye powers divine, 
Unto our docile youth give morals pure! 

Ye powers divine, 
To placid age give peace, 
And to the stock of Romulus ensure 
Dominion vast, a never-failing line, 
And in all noble things still make them to increase! 

And oh! may he who now 
To you with milk-white steers uplifts his prayer, 

Within whose veins doth flow 

Renowned Anchises' blood, and Venus' ever fair, 

Be still in war supreme, yet still the foe 

His sword hath humbled spare! 



The Secular Hymn 

Now, even now the Mede 
Our hosts omnipotent by land and sea, 

And Alban axes fears; the Scythians, late 
So vaunting, and the hordes of Ind await, 
On low expectant knee, 
What terms soe'er we may be minded to concede. 
Now Faith, and Peace, and Honor, and the old 

Primeval Shame, and Worth long held in scorn, 

To reappear make bold, 
And blissful Plenty, with her teeming horn, 
Doth all her smiles unfold. 

And oh! may he, the Seer Divine, 
God of the fulgent bow, 
Phoebus, belov&d of the Muses nine, 

Who, for the body racked and worn with woe 
By arts remedial finds an anodyne, 
If he with no unloving eye doth view 

The crested heights and halls of Palatine, 

On to a lustre new 
Prolong the weal of Rome, the blest estate 
Of Latium, and on them, long ages through, 
Still growing honors, still new joys accumulate! 



471 



other emper- 
ors, as 
Claudius, 
insisted on 
making it an 
even hun- 
dred years.) 

(The axes 
were an em- 
blem of 
Roman 
power. Hor- 
ace calls 
them Alban 
after Alba 
Longa, the 
mother-city 
of Rome and 
the early 
home of the 
Julian gens, 
to which 
Augustus be- 
longed by 
adoption.) 



And may She, too, who makes her haunt 
On Aventine and Algidus alway, 
May She, Diana, grant 
The prayers, which duly here 
The Fifteen Men upon this festal day 

To her devoutly send, 
And to the youth's pure adjurations lend 
No unpropitious ear! 

Now homeward we repair, 

Full of the blessed hope, that will not fail, 
That Jove and all the gods have heard our prayer, 

And with approving smiles our homage hail, — 
We, skilled in choral harmonies to raise 
The hymn to Phoebus and Diana's praise. 



(The Fifteen 
Men who had 
charge of the 
Sibylline 
Books, which 
ordained this 
celebration. 
The number 
of men in 
this college 
was origi- 
nally two, 
but was in- 
creased to ten 
by Licinius 
and Sextius, 
and still 
later to 
fifteen.) 



472 The Founding of the Principate 

VI. City Improvements 

Public (In his public works Augustus showed the true Roman 

spirit.) The Greek cities are thought to have flourished 
v ' 3 ' ' mainly on account of the happy choice made by their 
World ^si- f° un ders, the beauty or strength of their sites, their near- 
6o - ness to some port, and the excellence of the country. But 

Roman prudence was more particularly employed on mat- 
ters which had received but little attention from the 
Greeks, such as paving their roads, building aqueducts, 
and sewers to convey the sewage of the city into the Tiber. 
In fact they have paved the roads, cut through hills, and 
filled up valleys, that merchandise may be conveyed by 
wagon from the ports. The sewers, arched over with hewn 
stones, are large enough in some parts for wagons loaded 
with hay to pass through; while so plentiful is the supply 
of water from the aqueducts that rivers may be said to 
flow through the city and the sewers, and almost every 
house is furnished with water-pipes and copious fountains. 
This water-supply is largely the work of Marcus Agrippa. 
Many ornaments, too, he bestowed on the city. 

It may be well to say that the ancients, occupied with 
greater and more pressing affairs, paid little attention to 
beautifying Rome. But their successors, and especially 
those of our day, without neglecting necessary matters, 
have at the same time embellished the city with many 
splendid objects. Pompey, divine Caesar, and Augustus, 
with his children, friends, wife, and sister, have zealously 
surpassed all others in the munificence of these decorations. 
The greater number of improvements may be seen in the 
Campus Martius, which to the beauties of nature adds 
those of art. The remarkable size of the plain permits 
chariot-races and other feats of horsemanship without 



The Campus Martius 473 

hindrance, and allows multitudes to exercise themselves 
at ball, in the circus, and in the palestra. The buildings 
which surround it, the turf covered with herbage all the 
year round, the hilltops beyond the Tiber, extending from 
its banks like a panorama, present a view which the eye 
abandons with regret. 

Near this plain is another surrounded with columns, 
sacred groves, three theatres, an amphitheatre, and superb 
temples close to one another. So magnificent is the place 
that it would seem idle to describe the rest of the city after 
it. For this reason the Romans, esteeming it the most 
sacred place, have there erected funeral monuments to 
the most illustrious persons of both sexes. The most re- 
markable of these monuments is the Mausoleum, which 
consists of a mound of earth raised on a high foundation 
of white marble, situated near the river and covered to the 
top with evergreen shrubs. On the summit is a bronze 
statue of Caesar Augustus, and beneath the mound are 
the ashes of himself, his relatives, and friends. Behind is 
a large grove with charming promenades. In the centre 
of the plain is the spot where the body of this prince was 
reduced to ashes; it is surrounded with a double enclosure, 
one of marble, the other of iron; and the interior is planted 
with poplars. If from there you proceed to visit the an- 
cient Forum, which is equally rilled with basilicas, porticos, The Forum. 
and temples, you will there behold the Capitol, the Pala- 
tine Hill, with the noble works which adorn them, and the 
piazza of Livia, — each succeeding place causing you speedily 
to forget what you have before seen. Such is Rome. 

VII. A Possible Heir 

Meanwhile as supports to his despotism he raised to the 
office of pontiff and to the curule aedileship Claudius Mar- 



474 The Founding of the Principate 

cellus, his sister's son, while a mere stripling, and he gave 
two consecutive consulships to Marcus Agrippa, of humble 
birth but a good soldier, and one who had shared his vic- 
tory. Marcellus soon afterward died. [In his memory 
Vergil inserted in the Mneid some beautiful lines, repre- 
senting ^Eneas conversing with Anchises about the spirit 
of Marcellus in the realm of Hades.] 

yEneas . . . noticed 
Walking a youth, superb in his figure and glittering armor; 
But his brow was uncheered, and his eyes were dejected in aspect. 
"Who, my father, is he who attends on the hero in going? 
Is he his son, or some one of his noble line of descendants? 
What an array of attendants about him! what majesty in him! 
But dark night flits round his head with sorrowful shadows." 
Then did his father Anchises proceed, while the tears were up-welling: 
"O my begotten, inquire not the exquisite grief of thy kindred: 
Him shall the fates just show to the world, and no longer permit him 
Here to remain; too mighty to you had the Roman succession 
Seemed, ye Supernals, if gifts so peculiar had lasted forever. 
What lamentations of heroes shall yon plain post to the mighty 
City of Mavors! Or, Tiber, what pageants of mourning shalt thou, 

too, 
Witness ere long, as thou close by the new made sepulchre glidest! 
No such a youth from the Ilian nation shall ever his Latin 
Ancestors lift to so heightened a hope, nor shall ever hereafter 
Romulus' land boast over another so cherished a darling! 
Ah! for thy piety! Ah! for the pristine faith, and the right hand 
Dauntless in war! with impunity none could have dared to attack him, 
Meeting him when he was armed or with infantry charging on foemen, 
Or when digging his spurs in the flanks of his leathery warhorse. 
Ah! lamentable boy! if ever thou burstest thy hard fate, 
Thou shalt become a MARCELLUS! bring lilies in plentiful handfuls; 
I will the flowers purpureal strew, and the soul of mine offspring 
Load with the presents at least, and will render if only an empty 
Service' 



Tiberius 475 

VIII. The Character and the Accession of Tiberius 

Tiberius Claudius Nero was three years old when Livia, Character, 

daughter of Claudianus Drusus, became the wife of Caesar vdleius ii. 

(Octavianus) for she had been contracted to him by Nero, 94 " 

her former husband. Tiberius, a youth trained in the 4 wc fe w/ * 

' J World, 462-4. 

noblest principles, possessed in the highest degree birth, 
beauty, dignity, valuable knowledge, and superior capacity. 
From the beginning he gave hopes of becoming the great 
man he now is, and by his appearance he announced him- 
self a prince. Made quaestor in his nineteenth year, he 
began to act in a public character; and under the direction 
of his stepfather he took such judicious measures, both in 
Rome and at Ostia, to remedy the excessive price of pro- 
visions and the scarcity of corn that, from what he did 
on this occasion, it could plainly be seen how great he 
was to become. 

He married Agrippina (Vipsania), the daughter of Mar- His 
cus Agrippa and granddaughter of Caecilius Atticus 
Roman knight, — the person to whom Cicero has addressed Titeriu^. 
so many letters. After the birth of his son Drusus, Ti- 
berius was obliged to part with her, though she retained 
his affections, ... to make way for marrying Julia, (By this 
daughter of Augustus. This step he took with extreme Tfoerius 
reluctance; for besides having the warmest attachment to hei?S e the 
Agrippina, he was disgusted with the conduct of Julia. . . . Augustus.) 
The divorcing of Agrippina gave him the deepest regret; 
and on meeting her afterward he looked at her with eyes 
so passionately expressive of affection that care was taken 
that she should never again come in his sight. 

After the funeral of Augustus all prayers were addressed Tiberius 
to Tiberius. On his part, he urged various reasons (for the imperial 
declining the government) — especially the greatness of the P° wer * 



marriages. 



Tacitus, 
innate, i. n. 



Tacitus, 
Annals, i. 13. 



476 The Founding of the Principate 

empire and his distrust of himself. "Only the intellect of 
the divine Augustus," he said, "is equal to such a burden. 
Called as I have been by him to share his anxieties, I have 
learned by experience how exposed to fortune's caprices is 
the task of universal rule. Consequently a state which 
has the support of so many great men should not put 
everything on one alone; for many by uniting their efforts 
will more easily discharge public functions." There was 
more grand sentiment than good faith in such words. . . . 
The senators, however, whose only fear was lest they 
might seem to understand him, burst into complaints, 
tears, and prayers. 

Wearied at last by the assembly's clamorous entreaties 
and by the urgent demands of individual senators, he 
gradually gave way, though he would not admit that he 
was undertaking the imperial rule, but yet ceased to 
refuse it. 



IX. Administration of Tiberius 



On pension- 
ing spend- 
thrift 
senatorial 
families. 

Tacitus, An- 
nals, ii. 38, 
quoting a 
Speech of 
Tiberius. 

The speech 
of a senator 
was not 
limited to the 
subject be- 
fore the 
house. 



"If all poor men begin to come here and to beg money 
for their children, individuals will never be satisfied, and 
the state will be bankrupt. Certainly our ancestors did 
not grant the privilege of occasionally proposing amend- 
ments or suggesting, in our turn for speaking, something 
for the general advantage in order that we might in this 
house increase our private business and property, thereby 
bringing odium on the Senate and on princes whether 
they concede or refuse their bounty. In fact, it is not a 
request, but an importunity, as utterly unreasonable as 
it is unforeseen, for a senator, when the house has met on 
other matters, to rise from his place and, pleading the 
number and age of his children, put a pressure on the 
delicacv of the Senate, then transfer the same constraint 



Moderation and Generosity 477 

to myself, and as it were, break open the exchequer, which 
if we exhaust it by improper favoritism, will have to be 
replenished by crimes. Money was given you, Hortalus, 
by Augustus, but without solicitation, and not on the 
condition of its being always given. Otherwise industry 
will languish and idleness be encouraged, if a man has 
nothing to fear, nothing to hope from himself, and every 
one in utter recklessness will expect relief from others, 
thus becoming useless to himself and a burden to me." 

Next the emperor brought forward a motion for the Election of 
election of a Vestal Virgin in the room of Occia, who for 
fifty-seven years had presided with the most immaculate Annals! n. 
virtue over the Vestal worship. He formally thanked 86- 
Fonteius Agrippa and Domitius Pollio for offering their 
daughters and so vying with one another in zeal for the 
commonwealth. Pollio's daughter was preferred, only 
because her mother had lived with one and the same hus- 
band, while Agrippa had impaired the honor of his house 
by a divorce. The emperor consoled his daughter, passed 
over though she was, with a dowry of a million sesterces. 

As the city populace complained of the cruel dearness Tn © price of 

of corn, he fixed a price for grain, to be paid by the pur- regulated. 

chaser, promising himself to add two sesterces on every jj # 87. 

peck for the traders. But he would not therefore accept 

the title of " Father of the Country," which once before, 

too, had been offered him, and he sharply rebuked those The idea that 

who called his work "divine" and himself "lord." Con- feared free- 

sequently speech was restricted and perilous under a ^eU sus^ 

prince who feared freedom while he hated sycophancy. tained. 

A furious conflagration damaged the capital to an un- Fire on the 
1 i • •** ^ « ,. 1 ut± Caelianhill. 

usual extent, reducing Mount Caelius to ashes. It was 

an ill-starred year," people began to say, "and the prince's 6 * c ' nn ' lv " 

purpose of leaving Rome must have been formed under 



478 The Founding of the Principate 



Liberality of 
Tiberius. 



A public 
misfortune. 

Tacitus, 
A nnals, 
ii. 47. 



Egyptian 
and Jewish 
religion. 

Suetonius, 
Tiberius, 36. 



evil omens." They began in vulgar fashion to trace ill- 
luck to guilt, when Tiberius checked them by distributing 
money in proportion to losses sustained. He received a 
vote of thanks in the senate from its distinguished mem- 
bers, and was applauded by the populace for having as- 
sisted with his liberality, — without partiality or the solici- 
tations of friends, — strangers whom he himself sought 
out. 

Twelve famous cities of Asia fell by an earthquake one 
night, so that the destruction was all the more unforeseen 
and fearful. And there was no means of escape usual in 
such a disaster, by rushing out into the open country; for 
in the case before us the yawning earth swallowed the 
people up. Vast mountains collapsed; what had been level 
ground seemed to be raised aloft, and fires blazed out amid 
the ruin. The misfortune fell most fatally on the in- 
habitants of Sardis, and attracted to them the largest 
share of sympathy. The emperor promised ten million 
sesterces, and remitted for five years all their dues to the 
treasury or to the emperor's purse. It was determined 
that the people of these cities . . . should be exempt from 
tribute for that length of time, and some one was to be 
sent to examine their actual condition and to relieve them. 

Tiberius suppressed all foreign religions, including the 
Egyptian and Jewish rites; those who practised these 
superstitions he compelled to burn their vestments and 
all their sacred utensils. Under pretence of military serv- 
ice he distributed the Jewish youths among the provinces 
noted for their unheal thful climate ; and he dismissed from 
the city all the rest of that nation as well as proselytes 
to that faith, under pain of slavery for life unless they 
obeyed. 



Review 479 



STUDIES 

1. Describe the diet of Augustus. What was his health? What 
bearing naturally had this condition- on his public policy? 

2. How does he say he restored the Republic? What power was 
he to exercise outside of Rome? What power was left the senate? 
Why do we speak of his government as a principate? 

3. What was the feeling of the eastern provincials toward him and 
his family? Did the leading Romans have the same feeling for him? 

4. What idea does this document give you of the character of the 
old Roman worship? 

5. Contrast the Hymn written by Horace. 

6. Describe the public works of Augustus. 

7. What is here said of Marcellus? Had Augustus a right to 
appoint a man to succeed him? 

8. How did Tiberius obtain the succession? Who was he and what 
kind of a man? 

9. What was his policy with reference to spendthrift senators? 
Was it wise? What was thought of divorced people who married 
again? What was done to lower the price of grain? Compare 
present conditions. What else did Tiberius do to relieve the unfortu- 
nate? What general impression of Tiberius do these extracts make? 






CHAPTER XXXIX 

FROM PRINCIPATE TO MONARCHY: THE CLAUD- 
IAN AND THE FLAVIAN PRINCES 

A. ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE PRINCES 



Personal 
appearance 
of Claudius. 

Suetonius, 
Claudius, 30. 

Ancient 
World, 465 f. 



Narrowness 
of the 
Roman 
senators. 

(Gallia 
Comata, or 
Celtica, one 
of the prov- 
inces of 
Transalpine 
Gaul.) 

Tacitus, An- 
nals > xi. 23. 



I. Claudius 

Either standing or sitting, but especially when he lay 
asleep, Claudius had a majestic and graceful appearance; 
for he was tall, but not slender. His gray locks became him 
well, and he had a full neck. But his knees were feeble 
and failed him in walking, so that his gait was ungainly on 
state occasions as well as when he was taking exercise. 
Boisterous in his laughter, he was still more so in his 
wrath. . . . He stammered, too, in his speech, and had 
a tremulous motion of the head at all times, but especially 
when he was engaged in any business, however trifling. 

The question of filling up the senate was discussed, and 
the chief men of Gallia Comata, who had long possessed 
the rights of allies and of Roman citizens, sought the 
privilege of obtaining public offices at Rome. There was 
much talk of every kind on the subject, and vehement 
opposition showed itself in the argument before the em- 
peror. "Italy," some said, "is not so feeble as to be un- 
able to furnish her own capital with a senate. . . . What 
distinctions will be left for the remnants of our noble 
houses, or for any impoverished senators from Latium? 
Every place will be crowded with these millionaires, 
whose ancestors of the second and third generations at 

480 



On Granting the Citizenship 481 

the head of hostile tribes destroyed our armies with fire 
and sword, and actually besieged the divine Julius at 
Alesia. These are recent memories. What if there were 
to rise up the remembrance of those who fell in Rome's 
citadel and at her altar by the hands of these same barba- 
rians! Let them enjoy the title of citizens, but let them 
not vulgarize the distinctions of the senate and the honors 
of office." 

These and like arguments failed to impress the emperor. Statesman- 

like views of 
He at once applied himself to answering them, and thus the emperor. 

addressed the assembled senate: "My ancestors, the most Tacitus, An- 

ancient of whom was made at once a citizen and a noble of nals > X1 - 2 4- 

Rome, encourage me to govern by the same policy of 

transferring to this city all conspicuous merit, wherever 

found. . . . 

"What was the ruin of Sparta and Athens but this fault, 
that mighty as they were in war, they spurned from them 
as aliens those whom they had conquered? Our founder 
Romulus, on the other hand, was so wise that on one and 
the same day he fought as enemies and hailed as fellow- 
citizens several nations. Strangers have reigned over us. 
That freedmen's sons should be intrusted with public 
offices is not, as many people think, a sudden innovation; 
it was a common practice of the early republic. . . . 

"On the whole, if you review all our wars, never has one The Gauls 
been finished in a shorter time than that with the Gauls. f the honor. 
Thenceforth they have preserved an unbroken and loyal (char's 
peace. United with us as they now are by manners, educa- conquest, 58- 
tion, and intermarriage, let them bring us their gold and 
their wealth rather than enjoy it in isolation. Everything, 
senators, which we now hold to be of the highest antiquity 
was once new. Plebeian magistrates came after patrician; 
Latin magistrates after plebeian; magistrates of other 



Tacitus, An- 
nals, xi. 25. 



His accom- 
plishments 



Suetonius, 
Nero, 20. 

Ancient 
World, 446- 



The 

"Golden 

House." 

Suetonius, 
Nero, 31. 



482 From Principate to Monarchy 

Italian peoples after Latin. This practice, too, will estab- 
lish itself, and what we are this day justifying by prec- 
edents will be itself a precedent." 

The emperor's speech was followed by a decree of the 
senate, and the ^Edui were the first to obtain the right of 
becoming senators at Rome. 

II. Nero's Tastes 

Among the liberal arts which he was taught in his youth 
was music; and immediately after his advancement to 
the imperial office, he sent for Turpnus, a harpist of the 
highest reputation, who flourished at the time. After 
sitting with him several days as he sang and played after 
dinner till late at night, Nero began gradually to practice 
on the instrument himself. ... He made his first public 
appearance at Naples; and although the theatre quivered 
with the sudden shock of an earthquake, he did not desist 
until he had finished the piece of music he had begun. . . . 

At the same time he chose young men of the equestrian 
rank and above five thousand robust young fellows of the 
common people, to learn various kinds of applause . . . 
which they were to practice in his honor whenever he 
performed. 

In nothing was he so prodigal as in his buildings. He 
completed his palace by extending it from the Palatine to 
the Esquiline Hill. At first he called this addition simply 
the Passage; but after it was burned down and rebuilt, he 
named it the Golden House. Of the dimensions and furni- 
ture it may suffice to give the following description. The 
porch was so high that there stood in it a colossal statue of 
Nero a hundred and twenty feet in height; and the space 
included in it was so ample that it had triple porticos a 
mile in length, and a lake like a sea, surrounded with 






Palace; Administration 483 

buildings which had the appearance of a city. Within its 
area were corn-fields, vineyards, pastures, and woods, 
which contained a great number of animals of various 
kinds both tame and wild. In other parts the palace was 
entirely overlaid with gold and adorned with jewels and 
mother of pearl. The dining rooms were vaulted, and 
compartments of the ceilings, inlaid with ivory, were 
made to revolve and scatter flowers; they contained pipes, 
too, which shed unguents upon the guests. . . . When he 
dedicated this magnificent building after finishing it, all 
he said in approval was, "Now I have a dwelling fit for a 
man." 

III. Nero's Administration 

The prince forbade by an edict any magistrate or pro- Gladiatorial 
curator in the government of a province to exhibit a show s ows * 
of gladiators or wild beasts, or indeed any other public J^ 1 ^ JT 
entertainment; for hitherto our subjects had been as much 
oppressed by such bribery as by actual extortion, while 
governors sought to screen by corruption the guilty deeds 
of arbitrary caprice. 

That same year, repeated demands on the part of the Regulation 
people, who denounced the excessive greed of the revenue 
collectors, made Nero doubt whether he should not order ' s °' 
the repeal of all indirect taxes, and so confer a most splen- 
did boon on the human race. But this sudden impulse 
was checked by the senators who, having first heartily 
praised the grandeur of the conception, pointed out that 
the dissolution of the empire must ensue if the revenues 
which supported the state were to be diminished; for as 
soon as the customs were swept away, there would follow 
a demand for the abolition of the direct taxes. Many com- 
panies for the collection of indirect taxes had been formed 



484 From Principate to Monarchy 

by consuls and tribunes, when the freedom of the Roman 
people was still in its vigor, and arrangements were subse- 
quently made to insure an exact correspondence between 
the amount of income and the necessary disbursements. 
Certainly some restraint, they admitted, must be put on 
the cupidity of the revenue collectors, that they might 
not by new oppressions bring into odium what for so 
many years had been endured without a complaint. 
The prince's Accordingly the prince issued an edict that the regula- 
tions about every branch of the public revenue, which 
had hitherto been kept secret, should be published; that 
claims which had been dropped should not be revived 
after a year; that the praetor at Rome, the propraetor or 
proconsul in the provinces, should give judicial precedence 
to all cases against the collectors; that the soldiers should 
retain their immunities except when they traded for a 
profit, with other very equitable arrangements, which 
for a short time were maintained and were subsequently 
disregarded. 

IV. Vespasian's Administration 

His mili- He let slip no opportunity for reforming the discipline 

pline. 1SC of the army. When therefore a young man came perfumed 
Suetonius, to thank the emperor for having appointed him to com- 
Vespasian, 8. man d a squadron of horse, Vespasian turned away in dis- 
\Vorid '468- S ust > an d with this sharp reprimand — "I should prefer to 
71. have you smell of garlic" — revoked the commission. 

His Among his new public buildings was his temple of Peace 

near the Forum, and on the Caelian Mount that of Clau- 
Vespasian, g. dius, which Agrippina had begun but Nero had almost de- 
stroyed. A third was an amphitheatre in the middle of 
the city, for he found that Augustus had planned such a 
work. He purified the senatorial and equestrian ranks, 



Vespasian; the Jews 485 

which had greatly fallen off in numbers and had lost honor 
through the neglect of his predecessors. After expelling 
the unworthy, he chose in their places the most honorable 
persons in Italy. 

An earnest patron of learning and the liberal arts, Ves- A patron of 
pasian granted to the Latin and Greek professors of rhet- 
oric the yearly salary of a hundred thousand sesterces j/^™^ 
each from the treasury. He bought, too, the freedom of l8 - 
superior poets and artists. . . . When some one offered 
to convey some immense columns into the Capitol at a 
small expense by a mechanical contrivance, the emperor 
rewarded him very handsomely for the invention, but re- 
fused to accept the service, saying, "Suffer me to find 
maintenance for the poor people." 

V. How the Jews Avoided Captivity 

So great was the zeal they were in to slay their wives In the siege 
and children and themselves also. Nor indeed, when they iem, 70 a.d. 
came to the work itself, did their courage fail them, as one j ose phus, 
might imagine it would have done; but they then held J ^ dnsh N ar < 
fast, without wavering, the same resolution which they . 
had upon the hearing of Eleazar's speech. Yet every one World, 468 f. 
of them still retained the natural passion of love for them- 
selves and their families; yet the reasoning they went 
upon appeared to them to be very just, even with regard to 
those that were dearest to them; for the husbands tenderly 
embraced their wives and took their children into their 
arms and gave the longest parting kisses to them, with 
tears in their eyes. But at the same time did they complete This event 

1 ill i' .riti-i 1 happened in 

what they had resolved on, as if they had been executed a fortress of 
by the bands of sti angers; and they had nothing else for cit y ? while it 
their comfort but the necessity they were in of doing this vv . as bei "s 
feecution, to avoid the prospect they had of the miseries the Romans. 



486 From Principate to Monarchy 

they were to suffer from their enemies. Nor was there at 

length any one of these men found that scrupled to act 

his part in this terrible execution; but every one of them 

despatched his dearest relations. Miserable men indeed 

were they! whose distress forced them to slay their own 

wives and children with their own hands, as the lightest of 

those evils that were before them. So being not able any 

longer to bear the grief they were under for what they had 

done, and esteeming it an injury to those they had slain, 

to live even the shortest space of time after them, they 

presently laid all they had in a heap, and set fire to it. 

Mutual self- They then chose the men by lot out of their number, to 
destruction. 

slay all the rest; every one of whom laid himself down by 

his wife and children on the ground, and threw his arms 
about them, and they offered their necks to the stroke of 
those who by lot executed that melancholy office; and 
when these ten had without fear executed them all, they 
made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he 
whose lot it was should first kill the other nine, and at last 
should kill himself. Accordingly, all these had courage 
sufficient to be in no way behind one another in doing or 
suffering; hence, for a conclusion, the nine offered their 
necks to the executioner, and he who was the last of all 
took a view of all the other bodies, lest perchance some one 
among so many that were slain should want his assistance 
to be quite despatched ; and when he perceived that they 
were all slain, he set fire to the palace and with the great 
force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, 
and fell down dead near his own relations. So these people 
died with this intention, that they might not leave so much 
as one soul among them all alive to be subject to the Ro- 
mans. Yet was there an ancient woman, and another who 
was kin of Eleazar, and superior to most women in pru- 



Few Survivors 487 

dence and learning, with five children, who had concealed 
themselves in caverns under ground, and had carried water 
thither for their drink, and were hidden there when the 
rest were intent upon the slaughter of one another. Those 
others were nine hundred and sixty in number, the women 
and children being withal included in that computation. 
This calamitous slaughter was made on the fifteenth day 
of the month Nisan. 

Now for the Romans, they expected fighting in the What the 
morning. When accordingly they put on their armor, and f 0U nd 
laid bridges of planks upon their ladders from the banks, Wlthm - 
they made an assault upon the fortress; yet saw they no 
enemy, but a terrible solitude on every side, with a fire 
within the place, as well as a perfect silence. So they were 
at a loss to guess at what had happened. At length they 
made a shout, as if it had been at a blow given by the 
battering-ram, to try whether they could bring any one out 
that was within. The women heard this noise, and came 
out of their underground cavern, and informed the Ro- 
mans what had been done, and the second of them clearly 
described all, both what was said and what was done, and 
the manner of it; yet did they not easily give their atten- 
tion to such a desperate undertaking, and did not believe 
it could be as they said. They also attempted to put the 
fire out, and quickly cutting themselves a way through it, 
they came within the palace, and so met with the multi- 
tude of the slain, but could take no pleasure in the fact, 
though it were done to their enemies. Nor could they do 
other than wonder at the courage of their resolution, and 
the immovable contempt of death which so great a num- 
ber of them had shown when they went through with such 
an action as that was. 



488 From Principate to Monarchy 



The 

Eruption of 
Vesuvius, 
79 A.D. 

Pliny the 
Younger, 

Letters, vi. 



Ancient 
World, 471 f. 



Flight of 
Pliny and 
his mother. 



Departure 

from 

Misenum. 



VI. An Event in the Principate of Titus 

During many days there had been shocks of an earth- 
quake, which alarmed us little, as they are frequent in 
Campania; but they were so violent that night that they 
not only shook everything about us, but seemed in fact to 
threaten total destruction. My mother flew to my room, 
where she found me rising in order to awaken her. We 
went out into a small court belonging to the house, which 
separated the sea from the building. It was now morning, 
but the light was very faint and languid; the buildings all 
round us tottered, and though we stood on open ground, 
yet as the place was narrow and confined, there was no 
remaining without imminent danger. 

We therefore resolved to leave the town. The people 
followed us in the utmost consternation, and pressed in 
great crowds about us on our way out. After going a con- 
venient distance from the houses, we stood still in the midst 
of a most dangerous and awe-inspiring scene. The car- 
riages we had ordered to be drawn out were so agitated 
backward and forward, though on the most level ground, 
that we could not keep them steady even by supporting 
them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon 
itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive 
motions of the earth. Certainly the shore was consider- 
ably enlarged and several sea-animals were left on it. On 
the other hand, a black and dreadful cloud, bursting with 
fiery, serpentine vapor, darted out a long train of flame, 
which resembled flashes of lightning, but were much lar- 
ger. . . . 

Soon afterward the cloud seemed to descend, and cover 
the whole ocean; as in fact it entirely hid the island of 
Capreae and the promontory of Misenum. My mother con- 



Fleeing from Rain 489 

jured me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was 
young, I might easily accomplish. As for herself, she said, 
her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort 
impossible; she would willingly meet death, however, if she 
could have the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the 
occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her; 
and taking her by the hand, I led her on. She complied 
with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to 
herself for being the cause of retarding my flight. The 
ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quan- 
tity. I turned my head and saw behind us a thick smoke, 
which came rolling after us like a torrent. I proposed while 
we had yet any light, to turn out of the high road, lest she 
should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowd which 
followed us. 

We had scarcely stepped out of the path, when darkness In total 

dd.rkn.css 
overspread us, not like that of a cloudy night, or when there 

is no moon, but of a room when it is shut up and all the 

lights extinct. Nothing then was to be heard but the 

shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the cries of 

men. Some were calling for their children, others for their 

parents, others for their husbands; they distinguished one 

another only by the voice. One was lamenting his own 

fate, another that of his family; some were wishing to die 

from very fear of dying; some were lifting their hands to 

the gods; but the greater number imagined that the last 

and eternal night had come, to destroy the gods and the 

world together. . . . 

At length a glimmering light appeared, which we imag- Fire and 

ined to be the forerunner of an approaching burst of flame as es * 

rather than the return of day, and in this respect we were 

right. The fire fell at a distance from us, however, and 

then we were immersed in thick darkness; a heavy shower 



49° From Principate to Monarchy 

of ashes fell upon us, which we were obliged every now and 
then to shake off, otherwise we should have been over- 
whelmed and buried in a heap. ... At last this terrible 
darkness gradually faded, like a cloud of smoke; the real 
day returned and even the sun appeared, though very 
faintly, just as when an eclipse is coming on. Every ob- 
ject which presented itself seemed changed, for it was cov- 
ered with white ashes, as with a deep snow. 



VII. The Administration of Britain under Domitian 

Appointed governor of Britain, Agricola chose rather to 
confer offices and employments upon such as would not 
offend, than to condemn those who had offended. The 

Ancient expense resulting from an increase of the military tribunes 

he made easier by a just and equal assessment; he abolished 
those private exactions which were more grievous than the 
taxes themselves. For the inhabitants had been compelled 
in mockery to sit by their own locked-up granaries, to buy 
corn needlessly, and to sell it again at a stated price. Long 
and difficult journeys had also been imposed upon them; 
for the several districts, instead of being allowed to supply 
the nearest winter quarters, were forced to carry their corn 
to remote and out-of-the-way places. Thus what was easy 
for all to procure was converted into an article of gain to a 
few. 

Tac. Agr. 20. By suppressing these abuses in the first year of his 
administration, he established a favorable idea of peace, 
which through the negligence or oppression of earlier rulers, 
had been no less dreaded than war. 

In order by a taste of pleasure to reclaim the natives 
from that rude and unsettled state which prompted them 
to war, and win them to peace and quiet, he induced them 



Civilization 
and educa- 
tion. 



Provincial Administration 491 

by private urging and public encouragements to erect Tacitus, 
temples, courts of justice, and dwelling-houses. He be- griC0a > 21 
stowed praise upon those who were prompt in carrying out 
his intention, and reprimanded the slow. In this way he 
promoted the spirit of emulation which had all the force 
of necessity. 

Preferring the natural genius of the Britons to the attain- 
ments of the Gauls, he took care to provide a liberal educa- 
tion for the sons of the chieftains. . . . These attempts 
met with such success that they who lately disdained to use 
the Roman language were now ambitious to become elo- 
quent. Hence they began to hold the Roman dress in 
honor and to wear the toga. 

Domitian's greatest dread was that the name of a Retirement 
private person might be exalted above that of a prince. 



$9- 



Agricola had delivered the province in peace and security jJSa, ■■ 
to his successor; and lest his entrance into the city might /& 
be rendered too conspicuous by the gathering and the ac- 
clamations of the people, he declined the salutations of his 
friends by arriving in the night; and he went by night, as he 
was commanded, to the palace. There after being received 
with a slight embrace but with not a word spoken, he was 
compelled to mingle with the servile throng. 



B. LIFE UNDER THE EARLY PRINCES 
I. The Rise of a Freedman 

But to continue what I was saying, my good manage- His earlier 
ment brought me to my present good fortune. I was only careen 
as big as the candlestick here when I came from Asia; in ^^°^% 
fact I used to measure myself by it every day and I smeared THmdchio. 
my lips with the lamp oil to get a beard on my chin all the 



492 From Principate to Monarchy 



Heir to his 
master. 



Fortunata 
his wife. 



sooner. Still for fourteen years I was my master's favorite. 
And where's the disgrace in doing what one's master tells 
one? All the same I managed to get into my mistress' 
good graces too. . . . 

But by heaven's help I became master in the house and 
then I took in my fool of a lord. Next he made me co- 
legatee with the prince to his property and I got a senator's 
fortune. But no one is ever satisfied and I wanted to get 
into business. To cut it short, I built five ships and loaded 
them with a cargo of wine; it was worth its weight in gold 
at that time and I sent it to Rome. You would have 
thought I ordered my bad luck: every ship was wrecked, 
it's a fact, not a story. In one day Neptune swallowed up 
a quarter of a million. Do you think I failed? No, I 
swear the loss only whetted my appetite, as if nothing had 
ever happened. I built more ships, larger, better, and 
luckier ones, so no one could say I was not a bold fellow. 
You know, a great ship has great strength in itself. I 
loaded them with wine again, bacon, beans, perfumes, and 
slaves. At this crisis Fortunata did the pious thing: she 
sold all her jewelry and dresses and put in my hands a 
hundred gold pieces. This was the leaven which made my 
fortunes rise. The gods' wishes are soon fulfilled. By one 
trip I cleared a round ninety thousand pounds. I imme- 
diately bought back all the estates that had belonged to 
my patron. I built a mansion and bought up beasts to sell 
at a profit; everything I touched grew like a honeycomb. 
Once I was worth more than all the citizens of my native 
town put together, no more of that for me; I withdrew 
from the business and started money-lending, financing 
freedmen. I must admit, exactly when I was wanting to 
discontinue my trading, I was urged to do so by an astrol- 
oger who had just come to our town, a Greek fellow called 



A Quickly Made Croesus 493 

Serapa, clever enough to sit in the councils of the gods. 
Well this man actually mentioned events which had 
slipped my own memory : he told me everything as pat as 
needle and thread: he seemed able to see my very insides 
and told me everything except what I'd had for dinner the 
day before. You'd have thought he'd lived with me al- 
ways. 

I ask you, Habinnas, you were there with us, I believe, Predictions 
when he said : " You used your wealth to get your wife : you fortune- 
are unlucky in your friends : no one is ever half as grate- teller - 
ful to you as he ought to be: you own broad acres: you are 
nourishing a snake in your bosom." And, well, I really 
don't see why I shouldn't tell you, I've still got thirty 
years, four months and two days to live, and I shall soon 
have a legacy left me. That's what my fortune tells me. 
But if I am allowed to extend my estates to Apulia, I 
shall have lived long enough and well enough. Meantime 
with the help of ever-watchful Mercury I have built this 
residence. As you know, it was once a cottage, and now it 
is fit for a god. It's got four dining-halls, twenty bed- 
rooms, two marble colonnades, a dining-room upstairs, my 
own bedroom, this viper's boudoir, an excellent porter's Reference is 
lodge, and a suite of spare rooms for guests. In fact when 
Scaurus came he didn't want to put up anywhere else, 
though he's got things which I'll show you presently. I 
assure you, if you've only a penny you're only valued at 
a penny; if you've got something, you'll be thought worth 
something. And so your humble servant, who was once a 
mere worm, is now a Crcesus. Meantime, Stichus, bring 
out my winding-sheet in which I am to be buried, and also 
the perfume and just a taste from that jar of wine, ir 
which my bones are to be washed. 



494 From Principate to Monarchy 



To mother. 

From an in- 
scription. 

Translated 
by Miss 
Rachel R. 
Hiller. 

This eulogy 
to a deceased 
mother be- 
longs to the 
Augustan 
age. 



A model wife 
and mother. 



II. Eulogy on Murdia 

As an honor to Murdia, the daughter of Lucius, my 
mother. May her good qualities by their inherent strength 
be such an aid to others that they may in consequence be 
stronger and better. She divided her property equally 
among her sons and gave a fair portion to her daughter. 
The love of the mother was evident from her devotion to 
her children and from the equal distribution of her prop- 
erty. To my stepfather, she bequeathed a fixed sum that 
the customary dowry might be increased by a free gift. 
Mindful of my own father, and faithful to him, after an 
appraisal of the property, she made special bequests to 
me, not preferring me to my brothers to their discredit; 
but recalling my father's generosity to me, she decided 
that that portion which she had taken from my inheritance 
under the influence of the second husband, ought to be 
returned, so that guarded by her care, it was restored to 
my property. 

She herself determined, as she had been given in mar- 
riage by her parents to worthy men, she would be obedient 
and honest; as a wife to the deserving she would become 
more acceptable; through her fidelity, she would be re- 
garded the dearer; through her judgment, the more ex- 
cellent; after her death, she would be worthy of universal 
praise since the distribution of her property would show a 
sweet and faithful spirit toward her husbands, a uniform 
treatment of her children, in very truth her sense of justice. 
Wherefore, since the praise of all good women is wont to 
be of the same simple character, for their natural good 
qualities, preserved through their own care, do not call 
for a diversity of words; and since they have all by their 
fair fame, made the same qualities worthy; and since it 



Social Life 495 

is a difficult matter to bestow new praises upon a woman 
because her life has been exposed to fewer changes, never- 
theless the good qualities common to humanity must of 
necessity be cherished, lest a neglect of any form of right 
conduct debase all other praise, because in discretion, 
honesty, modesty, obedience, domestic duties, diligence, 
and fidelity, she was the equal of other excellent women, 
and she yielded to no one in times of trial, during which 
she proved her virtue, her ability to endure hardships 
and her wisdom, thus preparing for herself a memory 
distinguished above all, certainly second to none. 

III. Letters and Documents 

Sarapion to our Heraclides, greeting. I sent you two To a young 

other letters, one by the hand of Nedymus, one by the ™ai?y em-" 

hand of Cronius the sword-bearer. Finally then I received barrassed. 

from Arabs the letter, and I read it and was grieved. Stick Milligan, 

■r^ n 111 ro Greek Papyri, 

to Ptollarion constantly: perhaps he can set you free, bay 39 f. 
to him: "I am not like any one else, I am a lad. With the 4I ad. 
exception of a talent I have made you to pay my bur- f^g" 011 
dens, . . . We have many creditors: do not drive us have been 
out." Ask him daily: perhaps he can have pity on you: creditor of 
if not, do you, like all, beware of the Jews. Rather stick Heraclides - 
to him (Ptollarion), and so you may become his friend. 
Notice that the document can be signed either by Diodorus 
or by the wife of the ruler. If you manage your own 
affairs, you are not to be blamed. Greet Diodorus with 
the others. Goodbye. Greet Harpocrates. 

Agreement between Tryphon, son of Dionysius, the Contract of 

son of Tryphon, his mother being Thamounis the daughter ship, 

of Onnophris, and Ptolemasus, son of Pausirion, the son Milligan, 54. 

of Ptolemaeus, his mother being Ophelous, the daughter 66 AD - 



496 From Principate to Monarchy 

of Theon, weaver, both parties belonging to the city of 
Oxyrhynchus. Tryphon agrees to apprentice to Ptole- 
maeus his son Thoonis, his mother being Saraeus the daugh- 
ter of Apion, who is not yet of age, for a period of one 
year from the present day, to serve and to do everything 
commanded him by Ptolemaeus in accordance with the 
whole weaving art, as also he himself knows it — the boy 
being supported and clothed during the whole time by 
his father Tryphon, on whom also all the public dues for 
the boy shall fall, on condition that Ptolemaeus shall give 
him monthly on account of his keep five drachmas, and 
at the expiry of the whole period on account of his cloth- 
ing twelve drachmas, it not being permitted to Tryphon 
to remove the boy from Ptolemaeus until the time is com- 
pleted. And if there are any days during this period on 
which he (the boy) plays truant, he (Tryphon) will produce 
him for an equal number of days after the time, or let 
him pay back for each day one silver drachma, and the 
penalty for removing him within the period shall be a 
hundred drachmas and a like amount to the public treas- 
ury. But if Ptolemaeus himself does not teach the boy 
thoroughly, let him be liable to the like penalties. This 
contract of apprenticeship is valid. The 13th year of 
Sebastus, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, 

Aug. 29- 

Sept. 27. the month Sebastus, 21. 

I Ptolemaeus, son of Pausirion, the son of Ptolemaeus, 
my mother being Ophelous the daughter of Theon, will 
carry out each of these requirements in the one year. 

I Zoilus, son of Horus, the son of Zoilus, my mother 
being Dieus daughter of Socceus, write on his behalf seeing 
that he does not know letters. The 13th year of Nero 
Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, the 
month Sebastus 21. 



Correspondence 497 

Hermocrates to Chaeras his son, greeting. First of all I To a diia- 
pray that you may be in health . . . and I beg you . . . y S( 
to write regarding your health and whatever you wish. First S centu°ry 
Already indeed I have written you regarding the . . . , AD - 
and you neither answered nor came, and now, if you do 
not come, I run the risk of losing the lot (of land) which 
I possess. Our partner has taken no share in the work, 
for not only was the well not cleaned out, but in addition 
the water-channel was choked with sand, and the whole 
land is untilled. No tenant was willing to work it, only 
I continue paying the public taxes without getting back 
anything in return. There is hardly a single plot that the 
water will irrigate. Therefore you must come, otherwise 
there is a risk that the plants perish. Your sister Helene 
greets you, and your mother reproaches you because you 
have never answered her. ... I pray that you may be 
well. Pauni 9. 

(Addressed) 

Deliver from Hermocrates to Chaeras his son. 

Didymus to his most esteemed Apollonius greeting. An invita- 
Please accompany Ailourion, who conveys this letter festival? 
to you, in order that he may buy for us young pigeons for Mimgan 6 , 
the feast. You are also invited to come down and feast 8 4 A.D. 
along with us. If you do this, you will have laid up a 
great store of gratitude at my hands. Greet all your house- 
hold. Goodbye. 

The third year of the Imperator Caesar Domitian Augus- The Egyp- 

^ • -r* i tian month 

tus Germamcus, racnon 15. Pachon 

(Addressed) April ^6- 

Deliver at Bacchias to the most esteemed Apollonius. 



498 From Principate to Monarchy 



Falling 
houses. 

Juvenal, 
Satires, iii. 



Scene at a 
lire; Ucale- 
gon burned 
out. 



" Buy a 

country 
home." 



(The Pytha- 
goreans were 
vegetarians; 
Greece, 95.) 



" You can- 
not sleep in 
Rome." 

(The em- 
peror Clau- 
dius Drusus 
and the sea- 



IV. City and Country Life Contrasted 

Who fears, or ever has feared, the falling of a house at 
cool Prseneste, or at Volsinii seated among the wooded 
hills, or at primitive Gabii, or on the heights of sloping 
Tibur? We inhabit a city propped up to a great extent 
with thin buttresses; for in this way the steward prevents 
the houses from falling; and when he has plastered over 
the gaping of an old crack, he bids us sleep secure, with 
ruin overhanging us. The place to live in is where there 
are no fires, no nocturnal alarms. 

Already Ucalegon is calling for water, already he is 
removing his chattels, already your third story is smoking: 
you yourself know nothing about it; for if the alarm begins 
from the bottom of the stairs, he will be the last to burn 
whom the tiling alone protects from the rain, where the 
soft doves lay their eggs. 

If you are capable of being torn away from the games 
of the Circus, an excellent house can be procured at Sora, 
or Fabrateria, or Frusino, for the same price at which you 
now hire a dark hole for a single year. There you have a 
little garden; and a shallow well, that does not require to 
be worked with a rope, irrigates your tender plants with 
easy draught. Live in love with your hoe, and be the 
overseer of your own trim garden, from which you could 
furnish a banquet for a hundred Pythagoreans. It is 
something, in whatever place, to have made yourself the 
owner of a single lizard. 

Many a sick man here dies from want of sleep, the indis- 
position itself having been produced by food undigested, 
and clinging to the fevered stomach. For what hired lodg- 
ings allow of sleep? Rich men alone can sleep in the city. 
Hence the origin of the disease. The passage of carriages 



The Unpleasantness of Rome 499 

in the narrow windings of the streets, and the abuse of the calves were 
drovers of the herds, when they are brought to a stand, sleepers.) 
would rob of sleep even Drusus and the sea-calves. 

If invited to a "function," the rich man will be carried The rich in 
through the yielding crowd, and will speed over their heads poor on foot, 
on his huge Liburnian bearers, and will read on his way, 
or write, or even sleep inside; for a litter with closed win- 
dows is productive of sleep. Yet he will arrive before us; 
we, in our hurry, are impeded by a wave in front, while 
the multitude which follows us presses on our sides in 
dense array; one strikes me with his elbow, another with 
a hard pole, one knocks a beam against my head, another 
a wine-jar. My legs are sticky with mud; before long I 
am trodden on upon all sides by large feet, and the hob- 
nails of a soldier stick into my toe. . . . 

Observe now the different and distinct dangers of the The dan- 

. . , , . . . . . . . , r gers of the 

night; what a height it is to the lofty house-tops, from night; fall- 

which a piece of pottery strikes your pate as often as mg po ery * 

cracked and broken utensils fall from the windows; with 

what a weight they dint and damage the flint pavement 

when they strike it. You may well be accounted remiss 

and improvident about a sudden accident, if you go out 

to supper without having made your will. . . . 

(The drunken and insolent fellow) despises me, whom Drunkards, 
the moon escorts home, or the dim light of a candle, whose a nd S foot- 
wick I regulate and husband. Mark the preliminaries of pads ' 
the wretched brawl, if brawl it be, where he strikes and I 
alone am beaten. He stands facing you, and orders you 
to stand; you must needs obey, for what are you to do 
when a madman forces you, and he too stronger than 
yourself? "Whence do you come?" he exclaims. "With 
whose vinegar, with whose beans are you gorged? What 
cobbler cut leeks or sodden sheep's-head with you? Do 



500 From Principate to Monarchy 

you answer me nothing? Speak, or be kicked! Tell me 

where you take up your begging-stand; in what synagogue 

am I to look for you?" It is all the same whether you 

try to say anything, or draw back in silence; they beat 

you just the same; then, as if in passion, they try to make 

you give bail. This is the liberty of a poor man; after 

being beaten he prays, and after being thrashed with fisty- 

cuffs, he entreats to be allowed to retire from the scene 

with a few teeth left him. Nor yet are such things all 

you have to fear; for there will not be wanting one who 

will plunder you after the houses are closed, and in all 

directions the fastenings of the chained-up shops are fixed 

and at rest. . . . 

"Off for the To these reasons (for disliking city life) I could add 
country." v , , 

many others; but my steeds summon me, and the sun is 

declining; I must be off (for the country). 

STUDIES 

A. i. Describe the appearance of Claudius. What proves him 
broad-minded? What points does he make in his speech to the 
senate? 

2. Of what does Nero seem to have been especially fond? De- 
scribe his new palace. 

3. What administrative measures are here mentioned? Were they 
wise or the contrary? 

4. What is noteworthy in Vespasian's administration? 

5. What do we learn from Josephus regarding the besieged Jews? 
Was their conduct creditable? Who was Josephus and what was the 
source of his knowledge? 

6. Describe the eruption of Vesuvius as Pliny saw it. 

7. Give an account of Agricola's reforms in Britain. Why was he 
recalled? 

B. 1. How was a fortune amassed by the freedman Trimalchio? 
Describe his character. 

2. What kind of woman was Murdia? What is the writer's ideal 
woman? 



Studies 501 

3. From these letters and documents write out all the points that 
can be made regarding social and business life in Egypt during this 
period? 

4. What are the relative advantages of city and country life as 
pictured by Juvenal? 



CHAPTER XL 



THE PERIOD OF THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS 



The finances 
of a muni- 
cipium. 

Pliny, Let- 
ters, x. 1 6 (or 
28). 

The corre- 
spondence 
covers a 
much wider 
range of sub- 
jects than 
can be repre- 
sented here. 

"Send a 
surveyor." 



I. Trajan's Correspondence with Pliny, Governor 
of Bithynia 

To the Emperor Trajan: 

I am at present engaged in examining the finances of the 
Prusenses, their disbursements and credits; and the farther 
I proceed in this affair, the more I am convinced of the 
necessity of my inquiry. Several considerable sums of 
money are owing to the city from private persons, who on 
various pretences neglect to pay the debts. On the other 
hand, I find the public funds are in some instances un- 
warrantably applied. 

This, Sir, I write to you immediately on my arrival. I 
entered this province on the seventeenth of September, 
and found it in those sentiments of obedience and loyalty 
which you justly merit from all mankind. You will con- 
sider, Sir, whether it would not be proper to send hither 
a surveyor; for I am inclined to think much might be de- 
ducted from what is charged by those who have the con- 
duct of public works, if an accurate measurement were 
to be taken. 



Trajan to Pliny: 

The people of that province will be convinced, I persuade 
myself, that I am attentive to their interests; as your con- 
duct toward them will make it clear that I could have 
chosen no person better fitted to supply my place. ... I 

502 



Provision against Fires 503* 

have scarcely surveyors enough to inspect those works Letters, x. 17 
which I am carrying on in Rome and the neighborhood; 
but persons of integrity and skill in this art may be found 
most certainly in every province, if you will make due 
inquiry. 



To the Emperor Trajan: 

While I was making a journey in a different part of the A fire in the 
province, a most destructive fire broke out at Nicomedia, 
which consumed not only several private houses, but also ter 1 ^ £' 
two public buildings, — the town house and the temple of 
Isis, though they stood on opposite sides of the street. 
The cause of its spreading thus wide was partly the violence 
of the wind, and partly the indolence of the people, who, 
it appears, stood fixed and idle spectators of this terrible 
calamity. The truth is that the city was not furnished 
with engines, buckets, or any single instrument for ex- 
tinguishing fires. I have now, however, given directions 
to provide this apparatus. 

You will consider, Sir, whether it may not be advisable "May we 
to form a company of firemen, consisting of only a hundred company? " 
and fifty members. I will take care that none but those of 
that occupation shall be admitted into it; and that the 
privileges granted them shall not be extended to any other 
purpose. As this corporate body will be restricted to so 
small a number of members, it will be easy to keep them 
under proper regulations. 

Trajan to Pliny: 

You are of the opinion that it would be proper to estab- " Corpora- 
1*1 <• r •xt- i- 1 1 i tions are 

hsh a company of firemen m Nicomedia, agreeably to what dangerous." 

has been practised in other cities. But remember that i etterSt x . 43 . 

societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the 



(Private 
assemblies 
were forbid- 
den by a law 
of the 
Twelve 
Tables, 
P- 352.) 



504 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

provinces in general, and particularly of those cities in 
which they exist. Whatever name we give them, and for 
whatever purpose they may be instituted, they will not 
fail to form themselves into factious assemblies, however 
short their meetings may be. It will therefore be safer to 
provide such machines as are of service in extinguishing 
fires, to enjoin the owners of houses to assist in preventing 
the mischief from spreading, and if it should be necessary, 
to call in the aid of the populace. 



" Shall we 
compel the 
councillors 
to borrow 
from the 
public? " 

Pliny, Let- 
ters, x. 62. 



To the Emperor Trajan: 

The debts which were owing to the public are by the 
prudence, Sir, of your counsels, and by the care of my ad- 
ministration, either actually paid, or are now recovering; 
but I fear the money must be unemployed. For on the one 
hand, there are few or no opportunities of purchasing land, 
and on the other, one cannot meet with any person who 
is willing to borrow of the public, — especially at the rate 
of twelve percent, — when it is possible to raise money on 
the same terms from private lenders. You will therefore 
consider, Sir, whether it may not be advisable, in order to 
invite responsible persons to take this money, to lower the 
interest; or if that scheme should not succeed, to place it 
in the hands of the members of the city councils, upon their 
giving sufficient security to the public. And though they 
should not be willing to receive it, yet as the rate of interest 
will be abated, the hardship will be so much the less. 



" Oppress no 
one in this 



Trajan to Pliny: 

I agree with you, my dear Pliny, that there seems to be 
way." no other method of facilitating the placing out of the pub- 

Letters, x. 63. lie money, than by lowering the interest; the rate you will 

determine according to the number of borrowers. But to 



Endowment for Poor Children 505 

compel persons to receive it, who are not so disposed, when 
possibly they themselves may have no opportunity of em- 
ploying it, is by no means consistent with the justice of 
my government. 

II. Endowment for the Support of Poor Children 

When the Imperator Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus Under 
Germanicus was consul for the fourth time and Quintus rajan ' 
Articuleius Paetus was consul, those named below at the Ascription. 
direction of our greatest and best Emperor mortgaged Ancient 
their estates so that, from the contract, the Sigures Baebi- World, 487. 
ani received semi-annual interest, and the boys and girls 
of the Ligures Basbiani support, through the tenderness of 
Trajan. 

Also of the estate Pastorianus, in the territory of Bene- 
ventum, in the district iEquanus; Priscia Restituta and 
the people are neighbors to the estate. Rated at 60,000 
sesterces; 125,000 sesterces is the value of the property, 
8,000 sesterces received, Callistus, servant of Rutilius 
Lupus pays the interest. 

[Many other mortgages also are here recorded.] 

III. Hadrian 

Arriving in Gaul, he liberally relieved the needy, and Military dis 
then passed on to Germany. Though more desirous of cipme * 
peace than of war, he exercised his soldiers as if war threat- Hadrian"™ 
ened; he hardened them to fatigue, set them, in his own 
person, an example of military virtue, and readily ate the World, 487 f. 
food of the camp — bacon, cheese, and vinegar mixed with 
water; in these respects he imitated Scipio ^Emilianus, 
Metellus, and Trajan, the author of his fortune. To make 
his men willing to endure hardships, he rewarded many 



506 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

with money, some with offices. The military discipline, 
which after Caesar Octavianus had declined through the 
neglect of the emperors, Hadrian restored. This he did 
partly by regulating the offices and the expenses, and partly 
by suffering no soldier, without due cause, to be absent 
from the camp. Another means to this end was the ap- 
pointment of tribunes, not for their popularity with the 
troops, but because of each one's sense of justice. By his 
own example, too, he encouraged the rest to strict disci- 
pline, for he was accustomed to walk clad in armor twenty 
miles a day along with his infantry. 

Dining-rooms, porticos, grottoes, and pleasure-gardens 
he banished from the camp. He himself generally wore a 
simple cloak with a plain belt fastened by a buckle without 
jewels; and by his side hung a sword with no more orna- 
ment than an ivory handle. His sick troops he visited in 
their quarters; and he himself always selected the place for 
encampment. The office of centurion he conferred on none 
but those of robust health and good character; no one 
could be a tribune unless he had a full beard and was old 
enough to fill his office with prudence and force. A tribune 
was not permitted to accept the smallest gift from his 
soldiers. 

Delicacies of every kind he removed absolutely from the 
army; and not only did he improve the arms and the fur- 
nishings of the soldiers, but regulated their ages, so as to 
enlist none too young for effective service and to retain no 
one longer than the humane law of earlier times prescribed. 
It was his especial care to know the soldiers individually 
and to keep informed as to 'their numbers. 

Furthermore he tried to acquaint himself with the mili- 
tary supplies of the empire, and he examined minutely the 
revenues from the provinces in order to relieve all needs; 



Hadrian's Travels 507 

and no emperor was ever so careful to avoid buying and 
keeping useless material. 

When Hadrian had reformed the soldiers of Germany 
after the pattern of their emperor, he crossed into Britain. 
In addition to other improvements there, he was the first Rome, 251; 
to build a wall— eighty miles in length — to separate the \voriT4S7 f. 
barbarians from the Romans. . . . 

Curious to learn the trifling details not only of his own His prying 
household but of his friends' families as well, he employed dispositlon - 
detectives to pry into all their secrets. Often his friends 
failed to discover that their private affairs were known to 
the emperor till he gave them the information. It may be 
of interest here to tell a story which shows how well ac- 
quainted Hadrian was with the affairs of his friends. One 
of them received a letter from his wife reproaching him for 
staying away from home to give himself up to the baths 
and other pleasures. Immediately a detective informed 
Hadrian of the contents of this letter. When accordingly 
the man came to ask a passport, the emperor rebuked him 
for his devotion to baths and luxurious living. "What!" 
the man exclaimed, "has my wife been writing this to you, 
too?" People blamed Hadrian for his prying disposition, 
as they considered it a grave fault. 

After the emperor had regulated the affairs of Britain, In Gaul and 
he returned to Gaul, where he received the unpleasant 
news of an insurrection in Alexandria over an Apis. As EadrlanTi2. 
an animal of this kind was discovered after a long in- Ancient 
terval, the various tribes of Egypt were violently con- World, 16. 
tending for the honor of giving the sacred beast a 
dwelling-place. 

About the same time Hadrian erected at Nimes a mag- 
nificent basilica in memory of Plotina. Then he went to 
Spain to winter in Terragona (Lat. Tarraco), where he re- 



508 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

paired at his own expense a temple to Augustus, and held 
a general assembly of the Spanish provincials. 

(Afterward he visited Greece,) where like Hercules and 
King Philip he had himself initiated into the Eleusinian 
mysteries. He not only conferred many benefits on the 
Athenians, but sat as judge in their public games. Then 
he sailed for Sicily. After his arrival there, he climbed 
Mount yEtna to view a sunrise, which from that spot was 
beautified with the varied colors of the rainbow. Thence 
he returned to Rome; but setting out immediately for the 
Orient, he travelled through Athens, where he dedicated 
the works he had begun, including a temple to the Olym- 
pian Jupiter (Zeus) and an altar to himself. 

In the same way, as he journeyed through Asia, he con- 
secrated temples in his own name. In Cappadocia he en- 
gaged many slaves for labor in the military camps. (Wher- 
ever he went, he busied himself with winning the friendship 
and alliance of foreign kings.) ... In his circuit of the 
provinces he punished procurators and governors with such 
severity that people believed he had himself incited persons 
to accuse them. 

In judicial affairs he made up his council, not of friends 
and companions but of learned jurists, — Julius Celsus, Sal- 
vius Julianus, Neratius Priscus, and others, — only those, 
however, whom the senate had approved. 

Among his enactments the following are most note- 
worthy: 

In no city shall buildings be destroyed for the use of the 
material in some other city. 

To children of condemned persons a twelfth part of their 
father's property shall be allowed. 

Charges of treason shall not be admitted. 

Bequests to the emperor from unknown persons shall be 



Hadrian's Laws 509 

rejected, and none shall be received from known persons if 
they have children. 

As to hidden treasures, if one shall find such a treasure 
on his own estate, he shall possess the treasure; if on an- 
other's, he shall give half to the owner of the estate; if on 
public ground, he shall divide equally with the imperial 
treasury. 

Slaves shall not be killed by their masters. Those who 
deserve death shall be condemned by judges only. 

The sale of men and women slaves as gladiators or for 
vile purposes is forbidden, provided no sufficient reason for 
such sale exists. 

There shall be no houses of correction (ergastula) for 
slaves or freedmen. 

In case a master is assassinated in his own house, not all 
his slaves shall be examined, but those only who are near 
enough to the master to know something of the deed. 

Though everywhere he erected countless buildings, he Public 
inscribed his name on none of them excepting the temple to 
his father Trajan. At Rome he restored the Pantheon (of §^ a £ U i' 9 . 
Agrippa), the Saepta, the Basilica of Neptune, very many 
sacred buildings, the Forum of Augustus, and the Baths of 
Agrippa. All these works he dedicated with the names of 
their founders. Under his own name he built a bridge 
across the Tiber, and near it a mausoleum. 

Hadrian was tall, well-built, and of robust constitution. Personal 
He curled his hair with a comb, and wore his beard long to a PP earance - 
cover the natural defects of his face. It was his habit to ff^IJan^b 
ride on horseback or to walk, and he constantly exercised 
himself in arms and in throwing the javelin. While hunt- 
ing he often killed a lion with his own hand; but once he 
broke his collar-bone and a rib. The game he always 
shared with his friends. At his dinners his guests were en- 



510 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

tertained by tragedies, comedies, and farces, as well as by- 
harp music, reading, and poetry. His villa at Tibur he 
built with such wonderful art that one could find in it 
representations of celebrated places, as the Lyceum, the 
Academy, the Prytaneum, Canopus, Tempe, — and that 
nothing might be wanting, an imitation of the realm of 
death. 



From his 
parents and 
teachers. 

Marcus 
Aurelius, 
Meditations, 
i. 2-9, 12, 14. 



Harmony 
with nature. 

Meditations, 
iii. 7. 



lb. iii. 13. 



lb. iv. 7. 



lb. iv. 23. 



IV. Some of the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius 
Antoninus 

From the reputation and remembrance of my father I 
learned modesty and manliness. 

From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence 
not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; sim- 
plicity, too, in my way of living, far removed from the 
habits of the rich. 

Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall 
compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, 
to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, 
to desire anything which needs walls and curtains. 

As physicians have always their instruments and knives 
ready for cases which suddenly require their skill, so do 
thou have principles ready for the understanding of things 
divine and human, and for doing everything, even the small- 
est, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine 
and human to each other. For neither wilt thou do any- 
thing well which pertains to man without at the same time 
having a reference to things divine; or the contrary. 

Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the 
complaint, "I have been harmed." Take away the com- 
plaint, "I have been harmed," and the harm is taken away. 

Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to 
thee, Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, 



The Harmony of all Things 511 

which is in due time for thee. Everything is fruit to me 
which thy seasons bring, O Nature; from thee are all 
things, in thee are all things, and to thee all things return. 

Constantly regard the universe as one living being, hav- 
ing one substance and one soul ; and observe how all things 
have reference to one perception, the perception of this one lb. iv. 40. 
living being; and how all things act with one movement; 
and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things 
which exist. 

A prayer of the Athenians: "Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, lb. v. 7. 
down on the plowed fields of the Athenians, and on the 
plains." In truth we ought not to pray at all, or we ought 
to pray in this simple and noble fashion. 

How hast thou behaved hitherto to the gods, thy par- lb. v. 31. 
ents, brethren, children, teachers, to those who looked after 
thy infancy, to thy friends, kinsfolk, to thy slaves? Con- 
sider if thou hast hitherto behaved to all in such a way 
that this may be said of thee, — 

Never has wronged a man in deed or word. 

Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold Meditations, 
or warm, if thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art 
drowsy or satisfied with sleep; and whether ill-spoken of 
or praised; and whether dying or doing something else. 
For it is one of the acts of life — this act by which we die; 
it is sufficient then in this act also to do well what we have 
in hand. 

Death is a cessation of the impressions through the lb. vi. 28. 
senses, and of the pulling of the strings which move the 
appetites . . . and of service to the flesh. 

All things are implicated with one another, and the bend lb. vii. 9. 
is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with 
any other thing. For things have been coordinated, and 



Do right on 
principle. 

Meditations, 
viii. 43- 



lb. x. 5. 



lb. x. 10. 



lb. x. 21. 

lb. xi. 29. 
76., xi. 36. 

Future life. 

Meditations, 
xxi. 5. 



512 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

they combine to form the same universe. For there is one 
universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades 
all things, and one substance and one law, one common 
reason in all intelligent animals, and one truth. 

Different things delight different people. But it is my 
delight to keep the ruling faculty sound, without turning 
away either from any man or from any of the things 
which happen to men, but looking at and receiving all 
with welcome eyes and using everything according to 
its value. 

Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee 
from all eternity; and the implication of causes was from 
eternity spinning the thread of thy being. 

A spider is proud when he has caught a fly, and another 
being when he has caught a poor hare, and another when 
he has taken a little fish in a net, and another when he has 
taken wild boars, and another when he has taken bears, 
and another when he has taken Sarmatians. Are not 
these robbers, if thou examinest their opinions? 

"The earth loves the shower;" and the "solemn ether 
loves;" and the universe loves to reproduce whatever is 
about to be. I say then to the universe, "I love as thou 
lovest." 

Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay 
down rules for others before thou shalt have first learned 
to obey rules thyself. Much more is this so in life. 

No man can rob us of our free will. 

How can it be that the gods, after having arranged all 
things well and benevolently for mankind, have over- 
looked this alone, that some men and very good men, and 
men who, as we may say, have had most communion 
with the divinity, and through pious acts and religious 
observances have been most intimate with the divinity, 



Death and Immortality 513 

when they have once died should never exist again, but 
should be completely extinguished? 

How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable lb. xii. 32. 
time is assigned to every man ! For it is very soon swal- 
lowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the 
whole substance! And how small a part of the universal 
soul! And on what a small clod of the whole earth thou 
creepest! Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be 
great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure 
that which the common nature brings. 

Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state (of the lb. xii. 36. 
world): what difference does it make to thee whether for 
five years or for three? For that which conforms to the 
laws is just for all. Where is the hardship then, if no tyrant 
nor yet an unjust judge sends thee away from the state, 
but nature, who brought thee into it? The same as if a 
praetor who has employed an actor dismisses him from the 
stage. "I have not finished the five acts, but only three." 
Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts are the whole 
drama; for what shall be a completed drama is determined 
by him who was once the cause of its composition, and 
now of its dissolution: but thou art the cause of neither. 
Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases thee is 
satisfied. 

V. Some Teachings of Epictetus 

When some one asked, how may a man eat acceptably Do every- 
to the gods, he answered: If he can eat justly and con- acceptably 
tentedly, and with equanimity, and temperately and t0 the gods * 
orderly, will it not be also acceptable to the gods? But Epictetus i. 
when you have asked for warm water and the slave has 
not heard, or if he did hear has brought only tepid water, 
or he is not even found to be in the house, then not to be 



514 Period of the Five Good Emperors 



All are 
brothers, the 
sons of God. 



The Deity 
oversees all. 

lb. 14. 



Souls much 
nearer to 
God than 
material 
things. 



vexed or to burst with passion— is not this acceptable to 
the gods? — How then shall a man endure such persons 
as this slave? Slave yourself, will you not bear with your 
brother? . . . Will you not remember who you are, and 
whom you rule? that they are kinsmen, that they are 
brethren by nature, that they are the offspring of Zeus? — 
But I have purchased them, and they have not purchased 
me. Do you see in what direction you are looking, that it is 
toward the earth, toward the pit, that it is towards these 
wretched laws of dead men? but toward the laws of the 
gods, you are not looking. 

When a person asked him how a man could be convinced 
that all his actions are under the inspection of God, he 
answered, Do you not think that all things are united in 
one? I do, the person replied. Well, do you not think 
that earthly things have a natural agreement and union 
with heavenly things? I do. And how else so regularly 
as if by God's command, when He bids the plants to 
flower, do they flower? when he bids them to send forth 
shoots, do they shoot? when He bids them to produce 
fruit, how else do they produce fruit? when He bids the 
fruit to ripen, does it ripen? when again He bids them to 
cast down the fruits, how else do they cast them down? 
and when to shed the leaves, do they shed the leaves? 
and when He bids them to fold themselves up and to re- 
main quiet and rest, how else do they remain quiet and 
rest? And how else at the growth and wane of the moon, 
and at the approach and recession of the sun, are so great 
an alteration and change to the contrary seen in earthly 
things? 

But are plants and our bodies so bound up and united 
with the whole, and are not our souls much more? and 
our souls so bound up and in contact with God as parts of 



God Sees and Protects 515 

Him and portions of Him; and does not God perceive 
every motion of these parts as being his own motion con- 
nate with himself? Now are you able to think of the 
divine administration, and about all things divine, and 
at the same time also about human affairs, and to be 
moved by ten thousand things at the same time in your 
senses and in your understanding, and to assent to some, 
and to dissent from others, and again as to some things to 
suspend your judgment; and do you retain in your soul 
so many impressions from so many and various things, 
and being moved by them, do you fall upon notions similar 
to those first impressed, and do you retain numerous arts 
and the memories of ten thousand things; and is not God 
able to oversee all things, and to be present with all, and 

to receive from all a certain communication? And is God can s 

1 1 1 .ii 1 r 1 * 11 1 more tnan 

the sun able to illuminate so large a portion of the All, and the sun. 

to leave so little not illuminated, that part only which is 
occupied by the earth's shadow; and He who made the 
sun itself and makes it go round, being a small part of 
himself compared with the whole, cannot He perceive 
all things? 

But I cannot, the man may reply, comprehend all these The spirit 
things at once. But who tells you that you have equal gu ide. 
power with Zeus? Nevertheless he has placed by every 
man a guardian, every man's spirit, to whom he has com- 
mitted the care of the man, a guardian who never sleeps, 
is never deceived. For to what better and more careful 
guardian could He have intrusted each of us? When 
then you have shut the doors and made darkness within, 
remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not; 
but God is within, and your Spirit is within, and what 
need have they of light to see what you are doing? To 
this God you ought to swear an oath, just as the soldiers 



Decree 
of the 
senate cited. 

From an 
inscription. 

Resolutions 
of the society 
itself. 



Admissions. 

About $4. 



516 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

do to Caesar. But they who are hired for pay swear to 
regard the safety of Caesar before all things; and you who 
have received so many and such great favors, will you not 
swear, or when you have sworn, will you not abide by 
your oath? And what shall you swear? Never to be 
disobedient, never to make any charges, never to find 
fault with anything that he has given, and never unwill- 
ingly to do or to suffer anything that is necessary. Is this 
oath like the soldier's oath? The soldiers swear not to 
prefer any man to Caesar: in this oath men swear to honor 
themselves before all. 

VI. Regulations of a Burial Society 

"Who may meet, assemble, and have a corporation; 
those who shall be willing to pay a monthly contribution 
for funerals, may meet in that association (collegium) and 
may not convene more than once a month under guise of 
that association, this session being for the sake of col- 
lecting a fund from which the dead may be buried." May 
it be favorable, fortunate and wholesome to the emperor 
Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus and to the entire house 
of the same, to us and ours, and to our association — both 
well and earnestly shall we engage ourselves honorably 
to escort the departure of the dead. Therefore we one and 
all of us must be harmonious in making proper contribu- 
tions in order that we may endure a long time. Thou too 
who wilt desire to enter this association as a novice, first 
read through the statute and then enter, lest thou com- 
plain afterward or leave a controversy to thine heir. 

It was unanimously adopted, that whosoever shall de- 
sire to enter this association will give on score of entrance- 
fee one hundred sesterces and one amphora of good wine, 
likewise per month five asses. Furthermore it was adopted, 






A Burial Society 517 

that whoever in six consecutive months does not render 

his dues and something human happen to him, no regard 

shall be paid to his funeral, even if he has made a will. 

Likewise it was adopted that whoever of our association Payments for 

dies with his dues paid, to him shall go 300 sesterces from 

our treasury, from which sum there shall be subtracted 

on account of funeral 50 sesterces which shall be allotted 

for cremation; the exequies shall be made on foot. . . . 

Likewise it was voted that whatever slave in this as- Decease of 
sociation shall die, and his body through the unfairness of bers. 
his master shall not be given for burial and he shall have 
made no record, he shall get an imaginary funeral. Like- 
wise it was voted that whoever for any cause whatever 
shall commit suicide, his funeral shall be ignored. 

Likewise it was voted that whatever slave of this as- Emancipa- 
sociation shall become free, he will have to give an am- 
phora of good wine. Likewise it was voted: whoever 
shall be director in his own year in the order of the list 
for arranging a dinner, and he shall not observe it and not 
do it, he will pay 30 sesterces into the treasury, his suc- 
cessor will be obliged to give it, and he will have to restore 
it in his place. 

[The document contains many other resolutions.] 



VII. Letters of this Period 

To Sarapion general . . . from Tarmuthis, the daughter Petition re- 

of Phimon, vegetable-seller, belonging to the village of Jobbery* 

Bacchias, at present without a guardian. On the 4th of Milligan 

the current month Pharmouthi, Taorsenouphis, the wife Greek 

of Ammonius, also called Phimon, elder of the village of u 4 A.b. 
Bacchias, although she had absolutely no ground of com- 
plaint against me, came into my house and picked a sense- 



518 Period of the Five Good Emperors 



Pharmouthi, 
March 27- 
April 25. 



less quarrel against me. Not only did she strip off my 
tunic and mantle, but robbed me in the quarrel of the 
sum which I had lying by me from the price of the vege- 
tables I had sold, namely, 16 drachmas. And on the 5th 
of the same month there came this woman's husband 
Ammonius, also Phimon, into my house as if seeking my 
husband. Seizing my lamp, he went up into my house 
and stole and carried off a pair of bracelets of unstamped 
silver of the weight of 40 drachmas, my husband being at 
the time away from home. I beg therefore that you will 
cause the accused to be brought before you for fitting 
punishment. May good fortune attend you. 

Tarmuthis about 30 years old, a mark on the right foot. 

The 17th year of the Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajanus 
Augustus Germanicus Dacicus. Pharmouthi 6. 



A soldier 
to his 
father. 

Milligan, 90. 

Second cen- 
tury A.D. 



Apion to Epimachus his father and lord heartiest greet- 
ings. First of all I pray that you are in health and con- 
tinually prosper and fare well with my sister and her 
daughter and my brother. I thank the lord Serapis that 
when I was in danger at sea he saved me. Straightway 
when I entered Misenum I received my travelling money 
from Caesar, three gold pieces. And I am well. I beg you 
therefore, my lord father, write me a few lines, first re- 
garding your health, secondly regarding that of my brother 
and sister, thirdly that I may kiss your hand, because you 
have brought me up well, and on this account I hope to 
be quickly promoted, if the gods will. Give many greet- 
ings to Capito, and to my brother and sister, and to Seren- 
illa, and my friends. I send you a little portrait of myself 
at the hands of Euctemon. And my (military) name is 
Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health. 

Company Athenonike. 



Correspondence 519 

Serenus the son of Agathos Daemon greets you . . . and 
Turbo the son of Gallpnius. 

(Addressed) 

To Philadelphia for Epimachus from his son Apion. 

Give this to the (office of the) first cohort of the Apa- 
maeans to Julianus . . . paymaster from Apion, so that 
(he may forward it) to Epimachus his father. 

Theon to Theon his father, greeting. You did a fine A boy to his 
thing! You have not taken me away along with you to 
the city! If you refuse to take me along with you to Milli s an > I02 - 
Alexandria, I won't write you a letter, or speak to you, About 200 
or wish you health. And if you do go to Alexandria, I 
won't take your hand, or greet you henceforth. If you 
refuse to take me, that's what's up! And my mother said 
to Archelaus, "He upsets me; off with him!" But you 
did a fine thing! You send me gifts, great ones, husks!! 
They deceived us here on the 12th, when you sailed. Send 
for me then, I beseech you. If you do not send, I won't Tubi, Dec. 

27~T3,I1 2^ 

eat, won't drink! There now! I pray for your health. 
Tubi 18. 

(Addressed) Deliver to Theon from Theonas his son. 

STUDIES 

1. What proof does this correspondence with Pliny afford of 
Trajan's interest in the welfare of the empire? of his energy and 
activity? of his justice and humanity? Why did he forbid the or- 
ganization of a fire-company (cf. a law of the Twelve Tables, p. 352)? 
From the same correspondence what may we infer as to Pliny's 
qualifications for the governorship of a province? Why did he refer 
everything to the emperor? Do you suppose that other governors 
did the same? Was his interference in the affairs of the cities (mu- 
nicipia) advantageous to the latter? In what case was Pliny ready 
to resort to oppression? 



520 Period of the Five Good Emperors 

2. What is the meaning of this document connected with the en- 
dowment of poor children? 

3. What were the objects of Hadrian's travels? How did he im- 
prove the army? What public works did he build? Why did Hadrian 
pry into the affairs of his friends? In what respects was his inquir- 
ing disposition praiseworthy? What were Hadrian's chief laws? 
What improvements did they make in the condition of freemen and 
of slaves? How did he benefit the provinces? Did he pay more 
attention to the provinces than to Rome? What public works did 
he build? Describe the personal appearance and the private char- 
acter of Hadrian. What is your opinion of the style of his biographer 
(Spartianus)? Is it well connected and logical? 

4. How does Marcus Aurelius make himself harmonious with 
nature? What is his idea of right conduct? of future life? 

5. What according to Epictetus should be the conduct of man 
in relation to God? How does he prove that God sees all? How are 
human beings related to one another and to God? 

6. What was the object of this burial society? What senatorial 
decree permitted such societies? 

7. From these letters make out all the facts you can regarding life 
in Egypt at this time. Whv are such documents found in Egypt 
rather than elsewhere? 



CHAPTER XLI 

EARLY HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY 
TO DIOCLETIAN 

I. Teachings of Jesus 

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, 
and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness: for they shall be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called 
the children of God. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous- 
ness's sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute 
you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
sake. 



Beginning 
of the 
Sermon 
on the 
Mount. 

Matthew v. 
i-ii. 

Ancient 
World, 5 1 1-3. 



II. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: the 
Apostles 

In the latter days of the emperor Tiberius, in the consul- Death and 
ship of Ruberius Geminus and Fufius Geminus, on the tion. 

521 



522 Early History of Christianity 



Lactantius, 
The Manner 
in which the 
Persecutors 
died, ii. 

Date of the 
crucifixion, 
March 23, 
29 A.D. 
Elsewhere 
the day of 
the month is 
differently 
stated. Pos- 
sibly the 
report of 
Pontius 
Pilate gave 
Lactantius 
his informa- 
tion. 

The apostles. 



The charge 
brought 
against 
them. 

Tacitus, An- 
nals, xv. 44. 



tenth of the Calends of April, as I find it written, Jesus 
Christ was crucified by the Jews. After He had risen again 
on the third day, He gathered His apostles, whom fear 
at the time of His arrest had put to flight; and while He 
sojourned with them forty days, He opened their hearts, 
interpreted to them the Scripture, which hitherto had been 
wrapped in obscurity, ordained and fitted them for the 
preaching of His word and doctrine, and regulated all 
things concerning the institutions of the New Testament. 
When this was accomplished, a cloud and whirlwind en- 
veloped Him and caught him up from the sight of men 
into heaven. 

His apostles were at that time eleven in number, to 
whom were added Matthias, in place of the traitor Judas, 
and afterward Paul. Then were they dispersed through- 
out all the earth to preach the Gospel, as the Lord their 
Master had commanded them. During twenty-five years, 
until the beginning of the reign of the emperor Nero, they 
occupied themselves in laying the foundations of the 
Church in every province and city. And while Nero ruled, 
the Apostle Peter came to Rome, and through the power 
of God committed unto him, wrought certain miracles; 
and by turning many to the true religion, he built up a 
faithful and steadfast temple unto the Lord. 

ill. Persecution of the Christians by Nero 

To get rid of the report (that he had ordered the fire), 
Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite 
tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called 
Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the 
name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during 
the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procura- 
tors, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, 



Beginning of Persecutions 523 

thus checked for the moment, broke out not only in Judaea, 

the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all 

things hideous and shameful from every part of the world 

find their centre and become popular. Accordingly an 

arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon 

their information, an immense multitude was convicted, 

not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred 

against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to Manner of 

their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were cution. 

torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or There seems 

were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly to ha Y^ h f en c 

° J some kind of 

illumination when daylight had expired. trial; but it 

Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was not con- 
exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the f^fspirit * 
people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. and the 

tt • • , i 1 1 Christians 

Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and were con- 
exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compas- J^fse ten- 
sion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but mon y 
to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed. 

IV. Pliny's Inquiry Concerning them, and Trajan's 
Answer 

To the Emperor Trajan: 

It is a rule, Sir, which I inviolably observe, to refer to The Chris- 
you in all my doubts; for who is more able to remove my 
scruples or to inform my ignorance? As I have never £" 5 " x 
before been present at any trials of persons called Chris- 
tians, I am unacquainted, not only with the nature of their 
crimes and the degree of their punishment, but how far 
it is proper to enter into an examination of them. . . . 

Meanwhile the method I have followed toward those 
who have been brought before me as Christians is this: 
I asked them whether they were Christians; if they con- 



Pliny, Let- 



524 Early History of Christianity 

fessed, I repeated the question twice, adding threats; and 
if they still persevered, I ordered them to be immediately 
punished. For I was persuaded, whatever the nature of 
their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible 
obstinacy deserved correction. . . . 

They affirm the whole of their guilt, or their error, was 
that they met on a certain stated day before it was light, 
and addressed themselves in a form of prayer to Christ, 
as to some god, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not 
for the purpose of any wicked deed, but never to commit 
any fraud, theft, or adultery; never to falsify their word, 
nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to de- 
liver it up; afterward, they said, it was their custom to 
separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a harm- 
less meal. . . . 

I deemed it expedient, therefore, to adjourn all further 
proceedings, in order to consult you. For it appears to be 
a matter highly deserving your consideration; more espe- 
cially as great numbers must be involved in the danger of 
these prosecutions, which have already extended, and are 
still likely to extend, to persons of all ranks and ages and 
even to both sexes. 

Trajan to Pliny: 

" Be just, The method you have pursued, my dear Pliny, in the 

meddle." proceedings against those Christians who were brought 

Letters, x. 98. before you is extremely proper, as it is not possible to lay 

down any fixed rule by which to act in all cases of this 

nature. But I would not have you enter officiously into 

any inquiries concerning them. If they should be brought 

before you, however, and the charge should be proved, 

they must be punished, — yet with this restriction that in 

case a person denies he is a Christian, and shall make it 



Harsher Persecutions 525 

evident that he is not, by invoking our gods, let him be 
pardoned upon repentance. 

Informations without the accuser's name subscribed 
ought not to be received in prosecutions of any kind; as it 
is introducing a very dangerous precedent, by no means 
agreeable to the equity of my government. 

V. Persecution under Decius 

This long peace, however, was afterward interrupted. The perse- 
Decius appeared in the world, an accursed wild beast, punished, 
to afflict the Church — and who but a bad man would Lactantius 
persecute religion? It seems as if he had been raised to The Manner 
sovereign eminence, at once to rage against God and at Persecutors 
once to fall; for undertaking an expedition against the 
Carpi, who had then possessed themselves of Dacia and soldier' em- 
Mcesia, he was suddenly surrounded by the barbarians and pero ^ * 49 ~ 
slain, together with a great part of his army. Nor could 
he be honored with the rites of sepulture; but stripped 
and naked, he lay, to be devoured by wild beasts and 
birds — a fit end for the enemy of God. 

To those chosen to superintend the sacrifices at the Certificate 
village of Alexander-Island, from Aurelius Diogenes, the 

son of Satabus, of the village of Alexander-Island, being Greek™' 

about 72 years old, a scar on the right eyebrow. It has Pa Py™> 

always been my custom to sacrifice to the gods, and now m . 

. , • i i T -r 1 This certifi- 

in your presence in accordance with the decrees I have cate is to 
sacrificed and poured libations and tasted the offerings, theTearer is 
and I request you to counter-sign my statement. May ?. ot a Chris - 
good fortune attend you. I, Aurelius Diogenes, have 
made this request. (2nd hand) I, Aurelius Syrus, as a 
participant have certified Diogenes as sacrificing along 
with us. (1st hand). The first year of the Emperor Caesar 



526 Early History of Christianity 



Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius Pius Felix Au- 



Epeiph, 
June 25- 

juiy 24. gustus, .bpeipn 2. 



He decides 
which party 
is orthodox. 

Eusebius, 
Ecclesiastical 
History, vii. 

25- 



VI. Aurelian's Decision of the Bishopric of Antioch 

So then, as Paul had fallen from the bishopric as well 
as from the orthodox faith, Domnus, as was said before, 
succeeded him as Bishop of the Church of Antioch. But 
as Paul entirely refused to leave the church-house, peti- 
tion was made to the emperor Aurelian, and he made a 
very just decision of the matter, by ordering the house 
to be given up to those with whom the bishops of the 
religion in Italy and Rome held intercourse. 



STUDIES 

1. What ideal of life is presented in this selection? 

2. What account does Eusebius give of the death and resurrection 
of Jesus? Where may we find earlier accounts of these events? 
What did the Apostles then do? Where did St. Peter go? 

3. What is said to have been Nero's motive for persecuting the 
Christians? What is the attitude of Tacitus toward the Christians? 
Was this severe treatment a persecution of their religion or an ex- 
cessive punishment for an alleged but unproved crime? 

4. How does Pliny describe the Christians of his province? What 
does he ask Trajan and what is the answer? 

5. What account does Lactantius give of the Emperor Decius? 
Why should the person mentioned in the certificate wish to prove 
himself a pagan? 

6. In what way is it significant that a pagan emperor should de- 
cide a question between two rival Christian sects? Whom did he 
consider the leading authorities in Christendom? 



CHAPTER XLII 

THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY 

I. Valerius Diocletian 

But when the stench of the body revealed the crime, Accession 
through the leaders and tribunes of the army Valerius a cter. 
Diocletian, commander of the bodyguard of the palace, Aurelius 
was chosen Emperor because of his wisdom; he was a great Vict or, ZWo- 
man, but nevertheless he had his faults; for example, he, his Casars). 
the chief of men, coveted the influence of gold-embroidered Ancient 
garments, of shoes of purple and gems, and silks from the or ' 5 ° 7 
far East. And while such vanities were unworthy of a The opening 
citizen and indicated a proud, vain spirit, they are not- to the dis- 
withstanding insignificant in comparison with what fol- deaTh'o^Nu 6 
lows: For he was the first Emperor since Caligula and merianus, his 

predecessor. 

Domitian who allowed himself to be called lord openly, 
and to be worshiped and invoked as a deity. Wherefore 
as far as I can judge, I have come to the conclusion that 
men of the humblest birth, especially when they have 
reached the heights, are arrogant and very fond of display. 
Such a man was Marius of the time of our forefathers; he 
was as eager for it as the starving are gluttonous when 
suddenly revived by food. Hence it seems strange to me 
that many assign haughtiness to the nobles who, mindful 
of their patrician blood, have at least as compensation 
for the trials by which they are agitated, something to 
make them haughty. But these faults of Valerius have 
been overshadowed by excellent traits; and though he 
permitted himself to be called master, he acted as a parent; 

527 



528 The Absolute Monarchy 

thus it is quite evident that the wise prince wished to prove 

that barbarous deeds are harmful, not names. . . . 

Maximianus. Need I recall that he associated with him in power many 

citizens and foreigners, for the sake of protecting and 

extending the rights of the Roman Empire? For when he 

learned that after the removal of Carinus, ^Elianus and 

Carinus, Amandus had stirred up in Gaul a band of peasants and 

Numerianus, robbers whom the inhabitants call Bagaudae, and had 

bad likewise devastated the fields far and wide and attacked many 

been emperor. # ■' 

cities, he immediately made Maximianus, his faithful 
friend, emperor although the latter was not a cultivated 
man. Afterward Maximianus added the cognomen Her- 
culius to his name, because of his devotion to the cult of 
the god Hercules, just as Valerius took the name of Jovius 
from Jove; whence they also gave these names to those 
auxiliary troops that distinguished themselves greatly in 
the army. . . . 
The Caesars. The two existing emperors associated with themselves 
as Caesars, Julius, Constantius and Galerius, Maximianus, 
whose family name was Armentarius. The former married 
a step-daughter of Herculius, the latter a daughter of 
Diocletian; both divorced their wives, just as Augustus 
had done formerly when he had commanded Tiberius 
Nero to marry his daughter Julia. All of these princes were 
born in Illyricum; and though they were of little culture, 
nevertheless since they were inured to the hardships of 
the country and of the battle-field, they rendered good 
service to the state. Hence it is evident that calamities 
are the best teachers of goodness and wisdom, while on 
the other hand, men who have never had troubles, are 
prone to judge all men in accordance with their wealth 
and have themselves but little insight. But the harmony 
among the rulers proves conclusively that their natural 



Reorganization of the Empire 529 

qualities and the experience in military affairs which they 

had gained under Aurelian and Probus, practically took Aurelian; 

the place of those virtues that they did not have. Finally World, 504-6. 



Probus, 
emperor, 



they were honoring Valerius as a parent or even as a great 

god; a thing which, whatsoever its nature, stands out in shortly after 

relief in comparison with the usual crimes among relatives 

from the founding of the city to our own time. 

And because the difficulty of the wars, of which I have Division of 
spoken above, was felt more keenly every day, the two 
Emperors and the two Caesars divided the empire as it 
were among themselves. To Constantius were entrusted 
all the Gallic provinces across the Alps; to Herculius Africa 
and Italy; to Galerius, the shores of Illyricum even to the 
Black Sea; Valerius retained for himself the rest of the 
empire. Soon afterward therefore a great burden of taxa- 
tion was laid upon a part of Italy. Heretofore all Italy 
furnished the same sum by means of which army and 
Emperor, w T ho always or practically always had their 
residence in Italy, were supported; then a new law was 
introduced in regard to taxation. True, it was endurable 
because moderate at first; but in these days the tax has 
become an intolerable burden. . . . 

With like zeal, the duties of peace were safeguarded by Administra- 
wise and just laws; and the Emperors dispensed with the 
officials called grain commissioners (frumentarii), men of 
evil repute whose duties resembled most nearly those of 
the Agents of to-day. These officials, who seem to have 
been elected for the purpose of spying and reporting those 
disturbances which arise in the provinces, and who basely 
invented criminal accusations and robbed left and right, 
were spreading fear everywhere, especially among those 
farthest away from Rome. The grain supply of the city 
and the safety of tributaries w T ere carefully and anxiously 



530 The Absolute Monarchy 

looked into; by recompensing merit on the one hand, and 
by forbidding every shameful deed on the other, the Em- 
perors were arousing an enthusiasm for right-conduct. 
They observed the ancient faith reverently and piously. 
Furthermore, Rome, with its seven hills, and other cities, 
noticeably Carthage, Milan, and Nicomedia, were mar- 
velously adorned with beautiful buildings. Yet these 
Emperors, despite their good deeds, were not without 
I. e. Maxim- faults. Herculius, for instance, behaved in so licentious a 
manner that he did not curb his passions even in the case 
of hostages. Valerius showed but little faith in his friends, 
doubtless through fear of discord, while he thought that 
the peace of the rulers might be disturbed through false 
reports. Also the strength of Rome, so to speak, was 
maimed by diminishing the number of the pretorian co- 
horts and of the people in arms; wherefore indeed many his- 
torians say that he abdicated the Empire. For when he 
was investigating the future, he learned from fate of the 
internal calamities and of a crash as it were threatening 
the Roman state; whereupon although still powerful, he 
gave up the care of the state after he had reigned twenty 
years; and with very great difficulty he compelled Her- 
culius to do likewise. . . . And although the truth is 
obscured because of the variety of opinions in regard to 
the abdication, nevertheless we think that he assumed a 
humble life because of his fine nature — a nature that 
spurned ostentation. 

II. Diocletian's Edict of Prices 

Introduction. 

From an in- All men know that articles of traffic and objects of daily 

^uotttTb use k ave attained exorbitant prices, four or eight times 
Duruy, His- their true value, or even more than that ; so that, through 

t-ory oj Rome, ^ . ,. , A , . . . r 

vii. 401. the avarice of monopolists, the provisioning 01 our armies 



Edict of Prices 



53i 



becomes impossible. We have determined therefore to 
fix, not the price of these articles, which would be unjust, 
but the amount which in each case they will not be allowed 
to exceed. 

Items 

Rye (per bushel) . 

Oats " . 



Common wine (per quart) 

oil " " 
Pork (per lb.) 
Beef " " 

Mutton and goat's flesh (per lb.) 
Lard, first quality 
A pair of chickens 

" " " ducks 
A rabbit 

Oysters (a hundred) 
Eggs " " 

Field-laborer's wages (and food) a day 
Mason or carpenter's wages (and food) a day 
House painter's " " " " " 

Shepherd's " " " " " 

Barber's wages (per person) .... 
Reading-master's wages (per month, one pupil) 
To the rhetorician or sophist " " " 

" " lawyer for an inquiry 
Woman's slippers 



$0.45 
o. 22 
o. 22 
0.18 
0.07 
0.05 
0.05 
0.09 
o. 26 

0.17 
0.17 
0.43 
0.43 

O. II 

0.22 
0.32 
0.09 
0.09 
0.22 
1.09 
1.09 

O. 22 



Selection 
from his list 

lb. 



III. Persecution of the Christians by Diocletian 

And now Diocletian raged, not only against his own 
domestics, but indiscriminately against all; and he began 
by forcing his daughter Valeria and his wife Prisca to be 
polluted by sacrificing. . . . Presbyters and other offi- 
cers of the Church were seized, without evidence by wit- 
nesses or confession, condemned, and together with their 
families led to execution. In burning alive no distinction 



Severest of 
all persecu- 
tions. 

Lactantius, 
The Manner 
in which the 
Persecutors 
died, xiv. 



53 * 



The Absolute Monarchy 



of sex or age was regarded; and because of their great 
multitude they were not burnt one after another, but a 
herd of them were encircled by the same fire; and servants 
with millstones tied about their necks were cast into the 
sea. . . . Orders also had gone to Maximian Herculius 
and Constantius, requiring their concurrence in the execu- 
tion of the edicts; for in matters even of such mighty im- 
portance their opinion was never asked. A person of no 
merciful temper, Herculius yielded ready obedience, and 
enforced the edicts throughout his dominions of Italy. 
Constantius, on the other hand, lest he should have seemed 
to dissent from the injunction of his superiors, permitted 
the demolition of churches — mere walls, capable of being 
built up again — but he preserved entire that true temple 
of God, which is the human body. 

IV. The Toleration Edict of Galerius 

Amongst our other arrangements, which we are always 
making for the use and profit of the commonwealth, we 
for our part had heretofore endeavored to set all things 
right according to the ancient laws and public order of 
the Romans, and to compass this also that the Christians 
too who had left the persuasion of their own fathers should 
return to a better mind; seeing that through some strange 
reasoning such wilfulness had seized the Christians and 
such folly possessed them, that, instead of following those 
constitutions of the ancients which peradventure their 
own ancestors had first established, they were making 
themselves laws for their own observance, merely accord- 
ing to their own judgment and as their pleasure was, and 
in divers places were assembling sundry sorts of peoples. 

In short, when a command of ours had been set forth 
to the effect that they were to betake themselves to the 



Constantine 533 

institutions of the ancients, many of them were subdued A change of 
by danger, many also ruined; yet when great numbers nounced! 
held to their determination, and we saw that they neither /$. 
gave worship and due reverence to the gods, nor yet re- Ancient 
garded the God of the Christians — we therefore in con- World, 514- 
sideration of our most mild clemency, and of the unbroken 
custom whereby we are used to grant pardon to all men, 
have thought it right in this case also to offer our speediest 
indulgence, that Christians may exist again, and may es- 
tablish their meetings, yet so that they do nothing contrary 
to good order. By another letter we shall signify to magis- 
trates how they should proceed. Wherefore, in accordance He asks their 
with this indulgence of ours, they will be bound to pray prayer 
their God for our good estate, and that of the common- 
wealth, and their own, that the commonwealth may en- 
dure on every side unharmed, and they may be able to 
live securely in their own homes. 

V. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge 

And now a civil war broke out between Constantine The mono- 
and Maxentius. ... At length Constantine, with steady Christ, 
courage and a mind prepared for every event, led his whole 
force to the neighborhood of Rome, and encamped them 
opposite the Milvian Bridge. . . . Constantine was di- Lactantius, 

. The Manner 

rected in a dream to cause the heavenly sign to be aelm- in which the 
eated on the shields of his soldiers, and so to proceed to d^xSxf 
battle. He did as he had been commanded, and he marked ^ nc i mt 
on their shields the letter X with a perpendicular line World, 514 t. 
drawn through it and turned round thus at the top >£ J^e Greek 
being a cipher of Christ. Wearing this sign, his soldiers equivalent to 
stood to arms. The enemies advanced but without their curious' p C in 
emperor, and they crossed the bridge. The armies met ^ R ent mak- 
and fought with the utmost exertion of valor, and firmly ing Chr. 



534 



The Absolute Monarchy 



Edict of 
Licinius, 
Emperor, 
312 A.D. 

Lactantius, 
The Manner 
in which the 
Persecutors 
died, xlviii. 

It purports 
to be a re- 
issue of an 
"Edict of 
Milan." 
But the 
existence of 
the latter has 
been seri- 
ously ques- 
tioned; cf. 
Seeck, 
Geschichte 
des Unter- 
gangs der 
antiken Welt, 
i- 495- 

Ancient 

World, 

515 andn. 1. 



maintained their ground. . . . (Relying on a Sibylline 
prophecy, Maxentius joined his army.) The bridge in 
his rear was broken down. At sight of that the battle 
grew hotter. The hand of the Lord prevailed, and the 
forces of Maxentius were routed. He fled toward the 
broken bridge; but as the multitude pressed on him, he 
was driven headlong into the Tiber. This destructive 
war was thus ended, and with great rejoicings Constan- 
tine was acknowledged emperor by the senate and people 
of Rome. 

VI. The " Edict of Milan" 

When we, Constantine Augustus and Licinius Augustus, 
had happily met together at Milan, and were holding con- 
sideration of all things which concern the advantage and 
security of the state, we thought amongst other things 
which seemed likely to profit men generally, we ought in 
the very first place to set in order the conditions of the 
reverence paid to the Divinity, by giving to the Christians 
and all others full authority to follow whatever worship 
any man has chosen ; whereby whatsoever Divinity dwells 
in Heaven may be benevolent and propitious to us, and 
to all who are placed under our authority. Therefore we 
thought it good with sound counsel and very right reason 
to lay down this law, that no man whatever should be 
refused any legal facility, who has given up his mind 
either to the observance of Christianity, or to the worship 
which he personally feels best suited to himself; to the end 
that the supreme Divinity, whose worship we freely fol- 
low, may continue in all things to grant us his wonted favor 
and goodwill. Wherefore your Devotion should know 
that it is our pleasure to abolish all conditions whatever 
which appeared in former charters directed to your office 



Toleration; Uniformity 535 

about the Christians, that every one of those who have 
a common wish to observe the Christian worship may 
now freely and unconditionally endeavor to observe the 
same without any annoyance or disquiet. These things 
we thought good to signify in the fullest manner to your 
Carefulness, that you might know that we have given 
freely and unreservedly to the said Christians authority 
to practise their worship. And when you perceive that 
we have made this grant to the said Christians, your 
Devotion understands that to others also freedom for 
their own worship and observance is likewise left open 
and freely granted, as befits the quiet of our times, that 
every man may have freedom in the practice of whatever 
worship he has chosen, for it is not our will that aught be 
diminished from the honor of any worship. 



VII. The Nicene Creed 

"We believe in one God, Father Almighty, Maker of Established 

all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus council of 

Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father; only- N 2 ic ® a |3 



Letter of 



begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father, God of 
God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten Eusebius. 
not made, being of one substance with the Father: by Ancient 
whom all things were made in heaven and on earth: Who World > 5*5- 
for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was in- 
carnate, and was made man; He suffered, and rose again 
the third day; He ascended into heaven, and is coming 
to judge both the quick and the dead. And (we believe) 
in the Holy Ghost. The Holy Catholic and Apostolic 
Church anathematizes all who say there was a time when 
the Son of God was not; that before He was begotten He 
was not; that He was made out of the non-existent; or 



536 The Absolute Monarchy 

that He is of a different essence and of a different substance 
from the Father; and is susceptible of variation or change. 

STUDIES 

1. What blameworthy traits does Aurelius Victor find in Dio- 
cletian? What good qualities does he mention? Describe Maximian. 
How were the emperors and Caesars distributed over the empire? 
Describe the administration. How does this view compare with that 
of Lactantius (Ch. XLIII. i)? Why did Diocletian resign? 

2. What was the object of the Edict of Prices? What difficulties 
would naturally be encountered in enforcing it? How do the prices 
compare with those of to-day? 

3. What was the character of Diocletian's persecution? What 
was the policy of Constantius with reference to it? 

4. What led to the edict of Galerius? What are its terms? Did 
he believe in the existence of the Christians' God? 

5. What seems to have been Constantine's motive in decorating 
the shields with the monogram of Christ? Did it contribute to the 
victory? 

6. What are the terms of the "Edict of Milan"? Were they 
thereafter observed? 

7. What are the main beliefs of the Nicene Creed? What doctrine 
is here condemned? 



CHAPTER XLIII 

SOME ASPECTS OF THE DECLINE 

I. The Oppression of Diocletian 

While Diocletian, that author of ill and deviser of His ruinous 

misery, was ruining all things, he could not withhold his po lcy * 

insults, not even against God. Partly by avarice and in xltlianner 

part by timid counsels this man overturned the Roman in which the 

r J Persecutors 

empire. For he made a choice of three persons to share died, vii. 
the government with him; and thus the empire was quar- Ancient 
tered, armies were multiplied, and each of the four princes World > 5 J 7 ff- 
strove to maintain a much more considerable military 
force than any sole emperor had done in times past. There 
began to be fewer men who paid taxes than there were 
who received wages; accordingly the means of the husband- 
men were exhausted by enormous impositions; farms were 
abandoned; cultivated grounds became woodland, and 
universal dismay prevailed. Furthermore the provinces Oppressive 
were divided into minute portions; and many governors 
and a multitude of inferior officers lay heavy on each world, 508. 
territory and almost on every city. There were many 
stewards of different degrees and many deputies of the 
governors. Very few civil cases came before them, but 
there were condemnations daily, and forfeitures were 
frequently inflicted. There were taxes on numberless 
commodities, and those not only often repeated but per- 
petual, and in exacting them intolerable wrongs. 

Whatever was imposed for the maintenance of the sol- 
diery might have been endured; but through his insatiable 

537 



538 Some Aspects of the Decline 



The hoarding 
of wealth 
in the im- 
perial treas- 
ury. 



avarice Diocletian would never allow the sums of money 
in his treasury to be diminished: he was constantly heap- 
ing together extraordinary aids and free gifts, that his 
original hoards might remain untouched and inviolable. 
When, too, by various extortions he had made all things 
exceedingly dear, he attempted by ordinance to limit 
their prices. Then much blood was shed for the veriest 
trifles; men were afraid to expose aught for sale, and the 
scarcity became more excessive and grievous than ever, 
until in the end the ordinance, proving destructive to 
multitudes, was from mere necessity abolished. 

To this (oppression) was added a certain endless passion 
for building, and on that account arose endless exactions 
from the provinces for furnishing wages to laborers and 
artificers, and supplying wagons and whatever else was 
requisite to the works which he projected. Here public 
halls, there a circus, here a mint, and there a workhouse 
for making implements of war; in one place a habitation 
for his empress, and in another for his daughter. Pres- 
ently a great part of the city was quitted, and all men 
were removed with their wives and children, as from a 
town taken by enemies; and when those buildings were 
completed, to the destruction of whole provinces, he said, 
"They are not right, let them be done on another plan." 
By such folly was he continually endeavoring to equal 
Nicomedia with the city of Rome in magnificence. 

I omit mentioning how many perished on account of 
their possessions or wealth; for such evils were exceedingly 
frequent; and through their frequency they appeared 
almost lawful. But this was peculiar to him, that when- 
ever he saw a field remarkably well cultivated, or a house 
of uncommon elegance, a false accusation and a capital 
punishment were straightway prepared against the pro- 






Oppression 539 

prietor; hence it seemed as if Diocletian could not be 
guilty of rapine without also shedding blood. 

II. The Oppression Continues After Diocletian 

And now this wrong of which we are going to speak, 
how atrocious it is, from what impious disorder it is sprung, 
how strange to Barbarians, how familiar to Romans! The salvianus, 
latter impose grievous exactions upon one another. What Providence of 
say I? Not on one another, for the thing would be sup- 
portable if each suffered what he inflicted. But the really 
crying evil is that the many are pillaged by the few, who 
regard the public privileges as their particular booty, 
who make private gain of the debts due the state treasury. 
And the guilty ones are not the great alone, but the small 
as well; not judges only, but their deputies. For where 
are, I do not say the cities merely, but the municipia and 
the villages, which have not as many tyrants as Curiales? The Curiales 
But they congratulate themselves perhaps on this name se ivesop- 
of tyrant, because it seems powerful and honorable. This PJ^j^ a t ^ n 
is the characteristic of nearly all robbers, to rejoice and oppressed 

. .. . , . . . those under 

boast if they get the reputation of being more inhuman their author- 
than they really are. What then is the place, I would ask, or jj^^Ma 
where are the leading citizens who do not devour the vitals 
of widows and of orphans and even of all the saints? For 
the latter are treated as widows and orphans, either be- The condi- 
cause they do not wish to defend themselves, trusting in scr ibed in 
their faith, or because they are unable to do it, on account JieionSu) 1011 
of their weakness and innocence. No one then is safe, the fifth 
except the great, no one is protected from these devasta- time of the 
tions and this universal brigandage, unless perhaps those 
who resemble the thieves themselves. Moreover the 
thing has come to such excess of wickedness that no one 
but the bad can hope to be secure. 



writer. 



54o Some Aspects of the Decline 



III. The Depopulation of Eubgea 

About two thirds of our land lies waste for want of cul- 
tivators. I own many acres both in the mountains and 
in the plain. If any one will cultivate them, they may do 
it without cost; yes, I will gladly pay them money. It 
is clear that the land will thereby increase in value, and 
it will certainly be more pleasant to look upon. Waste 
land, besides being useless, arouses pity and makes the 
owner seem unfortunate. It appears to me advisable 
therefore that you persuade as many citizens as possible 
to occupy public lands of the city and to cultivate it — 
whoever has capital more, and the poor man as much as 
he can, that our land may come under the plow, and our 
city be freed from two of the greatest evils, idleness and 
poverty. Ten years they shall use the land without cost; 
then after an estimate is made, they shall pay a small 
quota of the grain but not of the cattle. If a foreigner shall 
occupy the land, he shall have it five years free, and then 
pay a rent double that of a citizen. And if a stranger 
shall occupy two hundred acres, he shall be given the 
citizenship as an encouragement to as many as possible 
to undertake such work. For now the land just outside 
the gates lies waste and unsightly as a desert, wholly un- 
like the neighborhood of a city, while inside the walls the 
larger part of the ground is sown or pastured. . . . They 
plant grain on the exercise ground and pasture their cattle 
in the market-place, so that Heracles and many other 
statues of the gods and heroes are hidden by the stalks; 
and every morning the sheep of a certain statesman in- 
trudes upon the market-place and crops grass by the 
council chamber and the other public buildings; and stran- 
gers who come here either ridicule or pity our city. 



Depopulation; Incipient Feudalism 541 



IV. Edict of Pertinax Concerning Vacant Lands 

In the first place he gave permission to occupy untilled Lack of cul- 
and vacant lands throughout Italy and in the other coun- throughout 
tries of the empire, as much as any one wished and was ^ aS!"' 
able to cultivate, even if it belonged to the emperor, on Heroc ji an y 
condition that the one who should care for it and till it 4- 6. 
should become its owner. To such cultivators he granted 
exemption from all taxes for ten years and eventually 
unqualified ownership in perpetuity. 

V. Tendency to Feudalism 

Imperator Constantine Augustus and Caesar Julianus Imperial 

to Eutychianus, Pretorian Prefect: "We hold that who- bidding 

ever shall try to offer protection to the farming folk, what- rioVof^pVo- 

ever his social rank, whether a commander of either branch tecti , on t0 

rural 

of military service, or count (comes) or proconsul or vice- laborers, 
governor or Imperial prefect or tribune or of the rank 3 
of a municipal councillor or of any other rank whatso- codefxSv^. 
ever, — he shall know that he will make himself liable for Ancient 
the payment of forty pounds of gold for the protection World, 522. 
furnished to each and every landed estate, unless he 
abandon this rashness hereafter. All therefore shall know 
that those should be smitten with the aforesaid fine, who 
have undertaken (to create) clientship of country folk, 
but those also, who for the sake of defrauding the public 
taxes have resorted to protections with the customary 
fraud, will be liable to the twofold payment of the es- 
tablished fine." 



542 Some Aspects of the Decline 



VI. An Example of the Moral Condition of the 
Empire 

I will content myself with speaking of this city, the 
queen and mother, as it were, of all the cities of Africa, — 
this city, the eternal rival of Rome, at first in arms, then 
in courage, and finally in splendor and dignity! Carthage, 
I say, the most formidable adversary of Rome, the Rome 
as it were of Africa, which will suffice as an example and 
as evidence, because she contains within herself every- 
thing by which a state is constituted and administered. 
There are all the means which prepare for the civil pro- 
fessions, there are the academies of liberal arts, there the 
schools of the philosophers, there the gymnasia of lan- 
guages and manners. There too are military forces and 
the commanders of the soldiery, there the proconsular 
office, there a judge and permanent governor who rules 
with the title of proconsul but with the power of a consul. 
There are also all the official dignitaries who differ from 
one another in name and rank, for every ward, for every 
street, I may say, — procurators who govern every part 
and division of so great a people. I am content with this 
city as an example for judging the rest; and we may readily 
understand the character of the others, lacking as they 
do careful police regulations, whereas the governors of 
Carthage possess the utmost authority. 

And here I almost repent of the promise I have just 
made, to pass by all other excesses of the Africans and to 
speak chiefly of their impurities and blasphemies. I see 
a city overflowing with vices, I see a city seething with 
every kind of wickedness, thronging with people, throng- 
ing still more with iniquities, full of riches, but fuller of 
sins, where men surpass one another in the vileness of 



Moral Depravity 543 

their evil passions, strong among themselves for supremacy 
in greed and impurity, others enfeebled with wine or dis- 
tended with gluttony, others crowned with flowers or 
reeking with perfumes, all weakened by degrading forms 
of luxury, nearly all sunken in deadly errors, not all dizzy 
with wine, it is true, but everyone drunken in sin. You 
would say that the people had lost their sound condition, 
their senses, their mental sanity, and were moving along 
in crowds, not with certain step but in the manner of in- 
toxicated Bacchantes. ... I mention the proscription 
of orphans, the oppression of widows, the crosses of the 
poor who daily groan before God, praying for an end to 
their afflictions, and worst of all, forced by the unendur- 
able bitterness of their lot, calling in the enemy, till finally 
God has granted them to endure along with the rest the 
affliction at the hands of the barbarians which formerly 
they alone had endured at the hands of the Romans. 

STUDIES 

1. Enumerate all the causes of decline mentioned in this selection. 
Does the writer seem to treat the case fairly? 

2. In what particular ways, according to Salvianus, were the many 
pillaged by the few? Who especially were oppressed? 

3. What was the condition of the part of Eubcea described in this 
selection? What is the value of the selection in the study of this 
period? What probably caused the depopulation? 

4. How did Pertinax try to remedy the evil? 

5. How did the rural laborers seek to avoid their taxes, and how 
did the government try to hold them to their duty? 

6. Describe the prosperity of Carthage. What does Salvianus 
say of its immoralities? Was this condition a cause of decline? 



CHAPTER XLIV 



THE NORTHERN BARBARIANS 



Physique. 

Tacitus, 
Germania, 



Country. 

Ib. S . 

Ancient 
World, 524 f. 



I. The Germans: People and Country 

They have fierce blue eyes, red hair, and large frames, 
capable only of sudden effort. They endure labor and 
service less patiently than we, and cannot support thirst 
and heat. But their climate and soil have accustomed 
them to cold and hunger. 

The country, although very varied in appearance, gen- 
erally consists of rough forests or foul swamps. . . . 
Though fertile in crops, it bears no fruit trees; it is rich 
in herds but they are generally stunted. Even their 
cattle do not attain their natural beauty or the full growth 
of their horns. They take pleasure in the size of their 
herds; these are their sole form of wealth, and they are 
very proud of them. Whether it is in mercy or anger that 
the gods have denied them silver or gold I do not know; 
nor could I definitely assert that Germany produces no 
vein of gold or silver; for no one has explored. But they 
are not affected in the same way that we are by its pos- 
session and use. You may see there silver vases which 
have been given as presents to their ambassadors and 
chiefs; but they hold them as cheap as earthenware pots. 
However, the tribes nearest to us have learnt through 
familiarity with trade to value gold and silver; they can 
recognize and pick out certain pieces of our money. The 
people of the interior use the more simple and ancient 
method of barter. They like best the old coinage with 

544 



Tac. Germ. 6. 



Warfare; Government 545 

which they are familiar, with milled edges and with a These old 

« . _. . - .. coins con- 

tWO-horse chariot stamped on it. They also prefer silver tained less 

to gold. This is not a matter of taste; but a number of Jhoseofthe 

small silver coins is more useful for men who buy only writ er's time. 

cheap and common articles. 

Even iron is not plentiful, as one may gather from the Arms and 

nature of their weapons. Swords and long lances are 

rarely used; they carry spears, or, as they name them, 

" Frams " which have a short narrow head, but are so sharp 

and handy that they use the same weapon as circumstances 

demand for close and open fighting. The cavalry are 

content with shield and spear; the infantry also shower 

javelins; each man carried several, and they can throw 

them a very long way. They fight naked or in a light 

plaid. They have no elaborate apparel, and merely paint 

their shields with distinctive colors, of the brightest hue. 

Few wear cuirasses, hardly any helmets or caps. Their 

horses are distinguished neither for build nor for speed. . . . 

II. Government 

Kings they choose by family, generals by merit. But Kings, war- 
the kings have not an unfettered power; and the generals priests.' 
lead less by authority than by force of example, according Tac Germ ■ 
as they win praise for energy, conspicuous bravery and Ancient 
daring. Powers of execution or imprisonment and even World, 525. 
of flogging are granted to none but the priests, nor are 
they exercised as a penalty or at the general's command, 
but at the bidding — so they imagine — of the tribal god 
whom they believe to be present in the ranks. Statues 
and certain symbols are taken down from the trees of the 
grove and carried into battle. The troops of horse and 
the wedge-battalions of infantry are formed not merely 
at haphazard but by families and clans. In this lies their 



546 



The Northern Barbarians 



Women. 



Women in 
war. 



Tac. Germ. 8. 



Council of 
chiefs and 
assembly 
of warriors. 

lb. ii. 



chief incentive to bravery. Their dearest too are close at 
hand; the women's cries and the wailing of the babies 
reach their ears. It is their testimony that each man 
respects, their praise he values most. They carry their 
wounds to show to mother and to wife; nor are the women 
frightened to number and examine the blows; during battle 
they bring them food and encouragement. 

There is a tradition that in some battles troops already 
wavering and beginning to run have been rallied by the 
women, who offer unceasing prayers, bare their breasts, 
and point out that captivity lies waiting close at hand. 
This the Germans fear far more anxiously for the women's 
sake than for their own, and the strongest hold upon the 
loyalty of these tribes is got by demanding as hostages 
girls of noble family. Indeed they believe that there is in 
women some divine spark of foreknowledge, and they do 
not despise their advice or neglect their answers. . . . 

On minor matters the chief men consult alone; on more 
important business they all meet. They provide, however, 
that all questions, the decision of which lies with the 
people, may be previously discussed by the chiefs. Their 
meetings are, except in case of chance emergencies, on 
fixed days, either at new moon or full moon; such seasons 
they believe to be the most auspicious for beginning busi- 
ness. They reckon the number, not of the days as we do, 
but of the nights. It is thus that they make their appoint- 
ments and contracts. To them day seems to follow night. 
Their love of liberty makes them independent to a fault; 
they do not assemble all at once or as though they were 
under orders; but two or three days are wasted by their 
delay in arriving. They take their seats as they come, 
all in full armor. Silence is demanded by the priests, to 
whom are granted special powers of coercion. Next the 



merits. 

lb. 12. 



Justice; "Companionship" 547 

king, or one of the chief men according to claims of age, 
lineage, or military glory, receives a hearing, which he 
obtains more by power of persuasion than by any right of 
command. If the opinion expressed displeases, their mur- 
murs reject it; if they approve, they clash their spears. 
Such applause is considered the most honorable form of 
assent. 

At the meeting charges involving risk of capital punish- Punish 
ment may be brought. The punishment fits the crime. 
They hang traitors and deserters on trees; cowards and 
cravens and evil-livers they plunge into a muddy swamp 
and put a hurdle on the top. These different penalties 
imply the distinction that crimes in being punished ought 
to be made public, while shameful offences ought to be 
concealed. They have also for lighter offences propor- 
tionate penalties; if convicted, they are fined a certain 
number of horses or cattle. Part of the fine is paid to the 
king or community, part to the injured man or his kinsmen. 
In these same meetings they choose chiefs who administer 
justice in the shires and villages. Each of these is accom- 
panied by a hundred companions of the common people, 
who give him both advice and authority. 

III. "Companionship" 
They do no business public or private except in arms. The youth 

_ . . . , ., . becomes a 

But their custom is that no one may carry arms until the m an. 

community has approved his ability. Then before the Tac. Germ. 

whole assembly either one of the chief men or the father x 3- 

or some kinsman adorns the young warrior with shield 

and spear. This panoply is their "toga," youth's first 

honor. Before this he is a member of the household, now 

a member of the state. Distinguished lineage or great 

services done by ancestors sometimes win for mere boys 



548 



The Northern Barbarians 



The chief 
gathers about 
him a num- 
ber of fol- 
lowers, called 
companions, 
who fight 
under his 
leadership. 

Ancient 
World, 525. 



The com- 
panions vie 
with one 
another in 
valor. 

Tac. Germ. 

14. 



the rank of a chief; but these take their places among the 
other tougher warriors whom time has tried, and do not 
blush to be seen in the ranks. Within the train itself too 
there are degrees of honor, determined at the leader's 
discretion. And great rivalry prevails — the companions 
each striving to be first with their chief, the chiefs to have 
the largest and most spirited companionship. Real dis- 
tinction and strength belong to the chief who has around 
him always a band of chosen warriors, to be a glory in 
peace and a protection in war. To have a companionship 
distinguished for its size and bravery brings fame and 
glory not only among your own people, but among neigh- 
boring tribes as well. Such trains are courted by legates, 
and honored with gifts, and often decide the fortune of a 
battle by the mere rumor of their presence. 

When the fighting begins, it is shameful for a chief to be 
outdone in bravery, and equally shameful for the com- 
panions not to match the bravery of their chief; to survive 
one's chief and to return from battle is a foul disgrace 
which lasts as long as life. To defend him, to support 
him, to turn one's brave deeds to his glory, this is their 
chief oath of allegiance. The chiefs fight for victory, the 
companions for their chief. Often youths of noble family, 
if the community in which they were born is suffering the 
torpor of prolonged peace, go and seek out some tribe 
which happens to be at war. They hate peace; and fame 
too comes more easily in times of danger. Nor can you 
support a large companionship save by war and violence; 
for they exact from their chief's liberality their charter 
and their murderous invincible spear. Feasts, too, rough 
though plentiful, are given for pay. The means of this 
liberality is won by war and plunder. It would be far 
harder to persuade them to plow the fields and wait for 



Peace 549 

the year's yield than to challenge the enemy and earn 
a wage of wounds. Indeed, they think it dull and lazy 
to get by the sweat of your own brow what may be won 
by shedding some one else's blood. 

IV. In Time of Peace 

When they are not righting, they spend little time in Idleness, 
hunting, much more in doing nothing. They devote Tac. Germ. 
themselves to sleeping and eating. Even the bravest and I5 ' 
most warlike are quite idle, for they give over the care of 
house and fields to the women and the old men, and to all 
the weaklings of the household. They themselves merely 
lounge, for from a strange contradiction of character they 
love idleness yet hate peace. It is usual for the tribe, man 
by man, to contribute a voluntary gift of cattle or corn 
for the chiefs. They accept this as an honor, and it meets 
their needs. They take particular pleasure in gifts from 
other tribes. These are sent not only by individuals, but 
often by the community, and consist of picked horses, 
massive armor, bosses and collars. In these days we have 
also taught them to take money. 

It is well known that none of the German tribes live Villages and 
in cities. They cannot endure undetached houses. Their homes, 
homes are separate and scattered, pitched at the call of jj l6 
river, plain or wood. They build villages, but not as we 
do with the buildings all adjoining and connected. Each 
man has an open space around his homestead, either as a 
protection against risk of fire, or because they do not 
know how to build otherwise. They make no use even of 
quarry stones or tiles. For all purposes they use timber 
roughly hewn with no attempt at beauty or comfort. 
Some parts they carefully smear with earth so pure and 
bright that it gives the effect of painting and colored de- 



55° 



The Northern Barbarians 



signs. They often dig caverns under the earth and load 
heaps of mud above them; these make a refuge for them 
in winter and a storehouse for fruits. In such places as 
these they temper the extreme cold; and if an enemy 
comes he carries off what he finds in the open, while he 
knows nothing of all that is hidden and buried; or else it 
escapes just because there is no time to search for it. 
Clothing. They all wear for covering a plaid fastened with a brooch, 

lb. 17. or, in default of that, a thorn. Without any other cloth- 

ing they spend whole days lying on the hearth before the 
fire. The wealthy are distinguished by a garment, which 
does not flow loose, as with the Sarmatians and Parthians, 
but fits close and shows the shape of each limb. They 
also use the skins of wild beasts. Those nearest the Rhine 
look comfortable in them, but the people of the interior 
wear them with elaborate care, since they are not yet 
civilized by commerce. They choose their animal, skin 
it, and star the hide with the speckled fur of the beasts 
found in the further ocean and the unknown sea. The 
women have the same clothing as the men, except that 
they more frequently wear linen garments, which they 
ornament with purple stripes. The bodice has no sleeves, 
and they leave the arms and forearms uncovered. . . . 
Their observance of the marriage-tie is very strict, and 
there is no point in their manners which deserves greater 
praise. Almost alone among barbarians they are content 
with one wife, with the exception of a very few. . . . 



Marriage. 

Tac. Germ. 
18. 



V. Family and Social Relations 

The husband brings a dowry to the wife, not the wife 
to the husband. The parents come to the wedding and 
inspect the presents. These are not designed to please a 
woman's taste, nor can a young bride wear them in her 



Family and Kin 551 

hair: they are oxen, and a bridled horse or a shield with 
spear and sword. This is the dowry which wins a wife, 
and she in her turn brings the husband some gift of arms. 
This represents to them our marriage bond, the mystic 
celebrations, and all the gods of matrimony. A woman 
must not think herself exempt from thoughts of bravery 
or the chances of war. By the ceremony which begins her 
wedded life she is warned that she comes to be her hus- 
band's partner in toil and in danger, to suffer and to dare 
with him alike in peace and war. This is plainly shown by 
the yoked oxen, the bridled horse, and the gift of arms. 
Thus she must live, and thus she must die. She is receiv- 
ing a trust which she must keep worthily and hand on to 
her children, a trust which her sons' wives may receive in 
turn and pass on to their children. . . . 

The family are bound to share the feuds as well as the Blood feud, 
friendships of father or kinsman. But these feuds are Tac. Germ. 
not irreconcilable. Even homicide has its price in a fixed "" 
tale of cattle or sheep; the whole family receives the rec- 
ompense. This is a good policy for the community, since 
feuds and freedom are dangerous side by side. In enter- 
tainment and hospitality no people are more profuse or 
generous. It is thought wrong to refuse shelter to any 
living man. Each according to his means receives his 
guests with a liberal spread. When his store fails, the 
former host sets out with his guest and guides him to an- 
other lodging. They proceed to the next house without 
any invitation. Nor does this make any difference; their 
welcome is no less warm. As far as the right of hospitality 
is concerned, no one makes any distinction between friend 
and stranger. On a guest's departure, should he ask for 
anything, their custom is to grant it; and the guest on his 
part feels just as free to ask. They like presents, but do 



552 



The Northern Barbarians 



Food and 
drink. 

lb. 22. 



Intemper- 
ance. 

Tac. Germ. 

23- 



Public 
shows; 
gambling. 

lb. 24. 



not reckon them as a favor, nor feel under any obligation 
in accepting them. 

Immediately they rise from sleep, which they frequently 
prolong into the day, they take a bath, usually of warm 
water, as is natural where winter takes the lion's share 
of the year. After the bath they take a meal. They have 
separate seats and each his own table. Then they proceed 
to business and often to feasts in full armor. No one is 
ashamed to drink from dawn to dawn. As is natural 
among drunkards, quarrels are frequent, and their brawls 
are rarely settled without wounds and bloodshed. But 
they also frequently consult at their feasts about the rec- 
onciliations of feuds, the forming of family connections, 
and the adoption of chiefs, and also upon peace and war. 
At no other time, they feel, is the heart so open to frank 
thoughts or so well warmed to great ones. Being as a 
race without much cunning or experience, they still open 
the secrets of their hearts in the freedom of jest. Thus the 
mind of each is laid bare. On the morrow they discuss 
the question again, thus preserving the advantages of 
either state. They debate, while incapable of deceit, and 
decide when they cannot be misled. 

Their drink is a liquid made from barley or wheat fer- 
mented into a faint resemblance of wine. Their food is 
simple, wild fruits, fresh game, or curdled milk. They 
simply satisfy their hunger without any refinement or 
preparation. In drinking they are less temperate. If 
you pander to their intemperance by supplying as much 
as they want, their vices will conquer them as effectively 
as any troops. 

They have but one kind of public show; in every gather- 
ing it is just the same. Naked youths who profess this 
sport, fling themselves in dance among swords and levelled 



Slavery 553 

lances. Practice has perfected their skill and skill their 
grace; yet they do it not to make money or a living. Dar- 
ing as the game is, its sole reward is the spectator's pleas- 
ure. Gambling with dice, it is strange to find, they reckon 
as a serious occupation. They play while sober, and 
show such recklessness in winning and losing that when 
all else fails, on the last throw of all they stake their lib- 
erty and person. The loser goes into voluntary slavery. 
Though he may be the younger and stronger, he suffers 
himself to be bound and sold. This shows their wrong- 
headed obstinacy; they call it themselves a sense of honor. 
Slaves thus obtained they usually sell in the market, to 
rid themselves of the shame of such a victory. 

Their ordinary slaves are not employed, as ours are, Slaves, 
on distinct duties in the establishment. Each has his ib. 2 $. 
own hearth and home. The master fixes a certain measure 
of grain or number of cattle to be paid as a sort of rent; 
this forms the only obligation. All the household obliga- 
tions are performed by the master's wife and children. 
Slaves are very rarely beaten or condemned to imprison- 
ment or taskwork. They are sometimes killed by their 
masters, not, however, as a severe act of discipline, but 
simply in a fit of passion, just as one might kill a private 
enemy, except that it is legal to kill a slave. The position 
of freedmen is not much higher than that of slaves. In 
the household they rarely have any influence, in the state 
never, except in those tribes which are ruled by kings. 
There they rise even above the free-born and above the 
nobles. In the other tribes the inferiority of freedmen 
is a proof of freedom. 

The lending of money and its multiplication by interest Economy, 
is unknown to them. Ignorance proves a better preven- Tac. Germ. 
tive than prohibition. The fields are held by village- 



554 



The Northern Barbarians 



Funerals. 

lb. 27. 



communities in proportion to their numbers, and are 
allotted to individuals according to rank. The extent of 
the land makes the division easy. They never till the same 
field two years in succession, yet there is always land to 
spare. They do not labor to improve the richness or ex- 
tent of the soil by planting orchards enclosing meadows 
and irrigating gardens; their sole demand upon the land 
is corn. Thus they do not divide the year into as many 
seasons as we do. They distinguish winter, spring and 
summer, and give them names ; but they know neither the 
name nor the blessings of autumn. 

The funerals are not ostentatious. The only custom 
they observe is that of using certain kinds of wood for the 
cremation of famous men. They do not load the pyre 
with garments or perfumes. The dead man's armor goes 
into the flames and in some cases his horse as well. The 
tomb is built of turf. They dislike a tall and elaborate 
monument; it seems an honor that weighs heavy on the 
dead. They soon cease from tears and mourning, but are 
slow to forget their grief. " Women must weep" they 
sav "and men remember." 



Physique. 

Ammianus 
Marcellinus 
xxxi. 3. 



Out-of-door 
life. 

lb. 4. 
Ancient 
World, 533 f- 



VI. The Huns 

They are certainly in the shape of men, however un- 
couth, but are so hardy that they require neither fire nor 
well-flavored food, but live on the roots of such herbs as 
they get in the fields, or on the half-raw flesh of any animal, 
which they merely warm rapidly by placing it between 
their own thighs and the backs of their horses. 

They never shelter themselves under roofed houses, 
but avoid them as people ordinarily avoid sepulchres as 
things not fitted for common use. Nor is there even to be 
found among them a cabin thatched with reed; but they 



The Huns 555 

wander about roaming over the mountains and the woods, 
and accustom themselves to bear frost and hunger and 
thirst from their very cradles. And even when abroad 
they never enter a house unless under the compulsion of 
some extreme necessity; nor indeed do they think people 
under roofs as safe as others. 

They wear linen clothes, or else garments made of the Clothing, 
skins of field-mice; nor do they wear a different dress Amm. Marc. 
out of doors from that which they wear at home; but XXX1 " 5 * 
after a tunic is once put around their necks, however worn 
it becomes, it is never taken off or changed till, from long 
decay, it becomes actually so ragged as to fall to pieces. 

They cover their heads with round caps, and their 
shaggy legs with the skins of kids ; their shoes are not made lb. 6. 
on any lasts, but are so unshapely as to hinder them from 
walking with a free gait. And for this reason they are not 
well-suited to infantry battles, but are nearly always on 
horseback, their horses being ill-shaped but hardy; and 
sometimes they even sit upon them like women if they 
want to do anything more conveniently. There is not a 
person in the whole nation who cannot remain on his 
horse day and night. On horseback they buy and sell, 
they take their meat and drink, and there they recline on 
the narrow neck of their steed, and yield to sleep so deep 
as to indulge in every variety of dream. 

And when any deliberation is to take place on any Countil. 
weighty matter, they all hold their common council on /&. 7 . 
horseback. They are not under the authority of a king, 
but are contented with the irregular government of their 
nobles, and under their lead they force their way through 
all obstacles. 

Sometimes when provoked, they fight; and when they Warfare, 
go into battle, they form in a solid body, and utter all kinds n. 8. 



556 



The Northern Barbarians 



lb. 9. 



Perpetual 
nomads. 

lb. 10. 



Inconstant 
and unre- 
liable. 

Aram. Marc, 
xxxi. 11. 



of terrific yells. They are very quick in their operations, 
of exceeding speed, and fond of surprising their enemies. 
With a view to this, they suddenly disperse, then reunite, 
and again, after having inflicted vast loss upon the enemy, 
they scatter themselves over the whole plain in irregular 
formations; always avoiding a fort or an intrenchment. 

And in one respect you may pronounce them the most 
formidable of all warriors, for, when at a distance, they 
use missiles of various kinds tipped with sharpened bones 
instead of the usual points of javelins, and these bones are 
admirably fastened into the shaft of the javelin or arrow; 
but when they are at close quarters they fight with the 
sword, without any regard for their own safety; and often 
while their antagonists are warding off their blows they 
entangle them with twisted cords, so that, their hands 
being fettered, they lose all power of either riding or 
walking. 

None of them plow, or even touch a plow-handle; 
for they have no settled abode, but are homeless and 
lawless, perpetually wandering with their wagons, which 
they make their homes; in fact they seem to be people 
always in flight. Their wives live in these wagons, and 
there weave their miserable garments. . . . 

In truces they are treacherous and inconstant, liable to 
change their minds at every breeze of every fresh hope 
which presents itself, giving themselves up wholly to the 
impulse and inclination of the moment; and like brute 
beasts, they are utterly ignorant of the distinction between 
right and wrong. They express themselves with great 
ambiguity and obscurity; have no respect for any religion 
or superstition whatever; are immoderately covetous of 
gold; and are so fickle and irascible, that they very often 
on the same day that they quarrel with their companions 



Review 557 

without any provocation, again become reconciled to 
them without any mediator. 

STUDIES 

1. Describe Germany. What were its products? 

2. Describe the government. What were the qualifications for 
leadership? What function had the priests? What was the idea of 
punishment? What was the German method of fighting? What 
part in warfare did women take? Who composed the council? 
What business came before it? Describe the public meetings of the 
warriors. 

3. Explain "companionship." What part had it in war? 

4. How did the warriors live in time of peace? Where were their 
homes situated? Describe their clothing. 

5. Describe their marriage customs. Explain the blood feud. 
How did they treat guests? What was their custom of eating at 
meals and feasts? To what vices were they addicted? What was 
the condition of their slaves? What were all the sources of their 
subsistence? In what way were their funerals peculiar? 

6. Describe the physique of the Huns. What was their opinion 
of houses? What did they wear? What use did they make of horses? 
What government had they? Describe their warfare. Compare 
them with the Germans. Who wrote these selections, and how did 
each obtain his information? 



CHAPTER XLV 



ROMAN LIFE UNDER THE LATE EMPIRE 



MAINLY FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES A.D. 



The ex- 
periences of 
two Christian 
women. 

St. Jerome, 
Letter cxxvii 
(written 412 
A.D.). 

The first 
siege men- 
tioned was 
by Alaric in 
408; the sec- 
ond siege, 
ending in the 
capture of 
Rome, was 
in 410; An- 
cient World, 
5291. 

Principia was 
a young lady 
in the house 
and under 
the protec- 
tion of Mar- 
cella, an old 
lady. The 
latter soon 
died from 
the effects of 
her injuries. 



I. Principia and Marcella in the Sack of Rome 
by the Goths 

Rome had been besieged and its citizens had been forced 
to buy their lives with gold. Then, thus despoiled, they 
had been besieged again so as to lose not their substance 
only but their lives. My voice sticks in my throat; and 
as I dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which 
had taken the whole world was itself taken; nay more, 
famine was beforehand with the sword and but few citizens 
were left to be made captives. In their frenzy the starving 
people had recourse to hideous food; and tore each other 
limb from limb that they might have flesh to eat. Even 
the mother did not spare the babe at her breast. . . . 

Meantime as was natural in a scene of such confusion, 
one of the blood-stained victors found his way into Mar- 
cella's house. Now be it mine to say what I have heard, 
to relate what holy men have seen; for there were some 
such present, and they say you (Principia) too were with 
her in the hour of danger. When the soldiers entered, she 
is said to have received them without any look of alarm; 
and when they asked her for gold, she pointed to her coarse 
dress to show them she had no buried treasure. They 
would not believe in her self -chosen poverty, however, 

558 



The Sack of Rome 559 

but scourged and beat her with cudgels. She is said to 
have felt no pain, but to have thrown herself at their feet 
and to have pleaded with tears for you, that you might 
not be taken from her. . . . Christ softened their hard 
hearts and even among blood-stained swords natural affec- 
tion asserted its rights. The barbarians conveyed both 
you and her to the basilica of the Apostle Paul, that you 
might find there either a place of safety or if not that, 
at least a tomb. Hereupon Marcella is said to have burst 
into great joy and to have thanked God for having kept 
you unharmed in answer to her prayer. She said she was 
thankful too that the taking of the City had found her 
poor, not made her so, that she was now in want of her 
daily bread, that Christ satisfied her needs so that she 
no longer felt hungry, that she was able to say in word 
and in deed. . . . "The Lord gave and the Lord hath Job i. 21. 
taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." 

II. By Fire and Sword 

I shudder when I think of the catastrophies of our time. Calamities 
For twenty years and more the blood of Romans has been by the in- 
shed daily between Constantinople and the Julian Alps. vaders - 
Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia, Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, | t ' / / er 1 om / < :' 
Achaia, Epirus, Dalmatia, the Pannonias — each and all Heliodorus; 
of these provinces have been sacked and pillaged and 
plundered by Goths and Sarmatians, Quades and Alans, 
Huns and Vandals and Marcomanni. How many of 
God's matrons and maidens, virtuous and noble ladies, 
have been made the sport of these brutes! Bishops have 
been made captive, priests and those in minor orders have 
been put to death. Churches have been overthrown, 
horses have been stalled by the altars of Christ, and relics 
of the martyrs have been dug up. 



396 A.D.). 



Vergil, 
dineid, ii. 
369. 

The empire 
is falling. 



Invasion of 
the Huns 
(here called 
wolves). 



Vergil, 
JEneid, vi. 
625-7. 



His mother's 
care. 

St. Jerome, 
Letter cxxv 
(to Rusticus; 
411 A.D.). 



560 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 

Mourning and fear abound on every side 

And death appears in countless shapes and forms. 

The Roman world is falling; yet we hold up our heads 
instead of bowing them. . . . The East, it is true, seemed 
to be safe from all such evils; and if men were panic-stricken 
here, it was only because of bad news from other parts. 
But lo! in the year just gone by the wolves (no longer of 
Arabia but of the whole North) were let loose upon us 
from the remotest fastnesses of Caucasus and in a short 
time overran these great provinces. What a number of 
monasteries they captured ! How many rivers they caused 
to run red with blood! They laid siege to Antioch and in- 
vested other cities on the Halys, the Cydnus, the Orontes, 
and the Euphrates. They carried off troops of captives. 
Arabia, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt, in their terror 
fancied themselves enslaved. 

Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips, 
A throat of iron and a chest of brass, 
I could not tell men's countless sufferings. 

And indeed it is not my purpose to write a history; I 
only wish to shed a few tears over your sorrows and mine. 

III. Advice to a Young Monk 
I am told that your mother is a religious woman, a widow 
of many years standing; and that when you were a child 
she reared and taught you herself. Afterward when you 
had spent some time in the flourishing schools of Gaul, 
she sent you to Rome, sparing no expense and consoling 
herself for your absence with the thought of the future 
that lay before you. She hoped to see the exuberance and 
glitter of your Gallic eloquence toned down by Roman 
sobriety, for she saw that you required the rein more 
than the spur. . . . 



Advice to a Monk 561 

If on your part you desire to be a monk and not merely Disdain 
to seem one, be more careful of your soul than of your things, 
property; for in adopting a religious profession you have 
renounced this once for all. Let your garments be squalid 
to show that your mind is white, and your tunic coarse 
to prove that you despise the world. But give not way to 
pride lest your dress and language be found at variance. 
Baths stimulate the senses and must therefore be avoided; 
for to quench natural heat is the aim of chilling fasts. . . . 
A frugal and temperate diet is good for both body and soul. 

See your mother as often as you wish but not with other Avoid the 
women, for their faces may dwell in your thoughts and women. 
so — "a secret wound may fester in your breast." The 
maidservants who attend upon her you must regard as 
so many snares laid to entrap you. . . . 

If I wish you then not to live with your mother, it is 
for the reasons above given, and most of all for the follow- 
ing: If she offers you delicacies to eat, you will grieve her 
by refusing them; and if you take them, you will add fuel 
to the flame that already burns within you. . . . Never 
take your hand or your eyes off your book; learn the 
psalms word for word, pray without ceasing, be always 
on the alert, and let no vain thoughts lay hold upon you. 
Direct both body and mind to the Lord, overcome wrath 
with patience, love the knowledge of the scripture, and 
you will no longer love the sins of the flesh. Do not let 
your mind become a prey to excitement, for if this effects 
a lodgment in your breast, it will have dominion over you 
and will lead you into the great transgression. Always 
have some work on hand, that the Devil may find you 
busy. . . . 

Make creels of reeds or weave baskets of pliant osier. 
Hoe your ground; mark out your garden into even plots; 



Do the fol- 
lowing kinds 
of manual 
labor. 



Vergil, 
Georgics, i. 
108-10. 



Proverbs xiii. 

4- 



562 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 

and when you have sown your cabbages or set your plants, 
convey water to them in conduits; that you may see with 
your own eyes the lovely vision of the poet: 

Apt draws fresh water from the hilltop near, 
Till the stream, plashing down among the rocks, 
Cools the parched meadows and allays their thirst. 

Graft unfruitful stocks with buds and slips that you 
may shortly be rewarded for your toil by plucking sweet 
apples from them. Build also hives for bees, for to these 
creatures the proverbs of Solomon send you, and you may 
learn from the tiny creatures how to order a monastery 
and to discipline a kingdom. Twist lines too for catching 
fish, and copy books, that your hand may earn your food 
and your mind be ever satisfied with reading. For " every- 
one that is idle is a prey to vain desires." In Egypt the 
monasteries make it a rule to receive none who are not 
willing to work; for they regard labor as necessary not 
only for the support of the body but also for the salvation 
of the soul. 



On the duty 
of labor. 

The editors 
gratefully 
acknowledge 
the use of 
Ogg, Source 
Book, 88 f., 
for this 
selection. 

Ancient 
World, 547 f- 



IV. From the Rule of St. Benedict 

Idleness is the enemy of the soul. And, therefore, at 
fixed times the brothers ought to be occupied in manual 
labor; and again at fixed times in sacred reading. There- 
fore we believe that both seasons ought to be arranged 
after this manner, — so that, from Easter until the first 
of October, going out early from the first until the fourth 
hour they shall do what labor may be necessary. From 
the fourth hour until about the sixth, they shall be free 
for reading. After the meal of the sixth hour, rising from 
the table, they shall rest in their beds with all silence; or 
perchance he that wishes to read may read to himself in 



Rule of St. Benedict 563 

such a way as not to disturb another. And the nona (the 
second meal) shall be gone through with more moderately 
about the middle of the eighth hour; and again, they shall 
work at what is to be done until Vespers. But if the emer- 
gency or poverty of the place demands that they be occu- 
pied in picking fruits, they shall not be grieved; for they 
are truly monks if they live by the labors of their hands, 
as did also our fathers and the apostles. Let all things be 
done with moderation, however, on account of the faint- 
hearted. 

In days of Lent they shall all receive separate books Regulations 
from the library, which they shall read entirely through ing. 
in order. These books are to be given out on the first day 
of Lent. Above all there shall be appointed without fail 
one or two elders, who shall go round the monastery at the 
hours in which the brothers are engaged in reading, and 
see to it that no troublesome brother be found who is 
given to idleness and trifling, and is not intent on his 
reading, being not only of no use to himself, but also 
stirring up others. If such a one (may it not happen) be 
found, he shall be reproved once and a second time. If 
he do not amend, he shall be subject under the rule to 
such punishment that the others may have fear. Nor 
shall brother join brother at unsuitable hours. Moreover, 
on Sunday all shall engage in reading, excepting those 
who are assigned to various duties. But if any one be 
so negligent and lazy that he will not or can not read, 
some task shall be imposed upon him which he can do, 
sa that he be not idle. On feeble and delicate brothers 
such a task or art is to be imposed, that they shall neither 
be idle nor so oppressed by the violence of labor as to be 
driven to take flight. Their weakness is to be taken into 
consideration by the abbot. 



564 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 



Advice to a 
father 
concerning 
an infant 
daughter. 

St. Jerome, 
Letter cxxviii. 



Letter cvii. 



In the 
monastery. 

Letter cxlvii. 



V. The Training or a Nun 

A girl should associate only with girls, she should know 
nothing of boys and should dread even playing with 
them. . . . Her mother's nod should be to her as much 
a command as a spoken injunction. She should love her 
as a parent, obey her as a mistress, and reverence her as 
her teacher. . . . She should until she is grown up com- 
mit to memory the psalter and the books of Solomon ; the 
gospels, the apostles, and the prophets should be the 
treasure of her heart. She should not appear in public 
too freely or too frequently attend crowded churches. All 
her pleasure should be in her chamber. She must never 
look at young men or turn her eyes upon curled fops; and 
the wanton songs of sweet-voiced girls, which wound the 
soul through the ears, must be kept from her. The more 
freedom of access such persons possess, the harder it is to 
avoid them when they come; and what they have once 
learned themselves they will secretly teach her and will 
thus contaminate our secluded Danae by the talk of the 
crowd. Give her for guardian and companion a mistress 
and governess, one not addicted to much wine or in the 
Apostle's word idle and a tattler, but sober, grave, indus- 
trious in spinning wool, and one whose words will form 
her childish mind to the practice of virtue. . . . 

Let her not converse with people of the world. . . . 
Let her not be present at the weddings of your slaves 
and let her take no part in the noisy games of the house- 
hold. ... By vigils and fasts she mortifies her body 
and brings it into subjection. . . . And by a deliberate 
squalor she makes haste to spoil her natural good looks. 

It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria for 
maidens and widows who have vowed themselves to God 



Oft-Wedded 565 

and have renounced the world and have trodden its pleas- 
ures under foot, to ask the mothers of their communities 
to cut their hair; not that afterward they go about with 
heads uncovered in defiance of the Apostle's command, 
for they wear a close-fitting cap and veil. No one knows 
of this in any single case except the shearers and the shorn; 
but as the practice is universal, it is almost universally 
known. The custom has in fact become a second nature. 

VI. A Much Married Couple 

The story I am about to relate is incredible; yet it is Twenty- 
vouched for by many witnesses. Many years ago when and twenty- 
I was helping Damasus, bishop of Rome, with his eccle- tJj^ hus - 
siastical correspondence, and writing his answers to the g Terome 
questions referred to him by the Councils of the East and Letter cxxiii. 
West, I saw a married couple, both of whom were sprung St. Jerome 
from the very dregs of the people. The man had already demns ic- " 
buried twenty wives and the woman had had twenty-two °. nd mar * 

J J nages. 

husbands. Now they were united to each other, as each 
believed, for the last time. The greatest curiosity pre- 
vailed among both men and women to see which of these 
two veterans would live to bury the other. The husband 
triumphed and walked before the bier of his oft-married 
wife, amid a great concourse of people from all quarters, 
with garland and palm-branch, scattering spelt as he 
went along among an approving crowd. 

VII. The Pagan Gods are Immoral 

Hence it proceedeth that those gods never had care of They are 
the lives and manners of such cities and nations as gave every kind 
them divine honors; but contrarywise gave free permission £ f J^ omma 
to such horrible and abominable evils, to enter, not upon 
their lands, vines, houses, or treasures, no nor upon the 



566 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 

St. Augustine, body (which serves the mind) but upon the mind itself, 
ii. 6. the ruler of all the flesh, and of all the rest; this they ever 

Ancient allowed without any prohibition at all. ... I know 

World, 530. tne j r flowers will talk of certain secret traditions and, 
I know not what, some closely muttered instructions, 
tending to the bettering of man's life; but let them show 
wherever they had any public places ordained to hear such 
lectures (wherein the players did not present their filthy 
gestures and speeches: nor where the Fugalia were kept 
with all licentiousness, fitly called Fugalia, as the chasers 
away of all chastity and honesty); but where the people 
might come and hear their gods' doctrine concerning the 
restraint of covetousness, the suppression of ambition, 
and the bridling of luxury and riot. . . . Let them show 
where these lessons of their instructing gods were ever 
read or rehearsed; whether ever their worshippers were 
used to hear of any such matters, as we used to do con- 
tinually in our churches, erected for this purpose in all 
places wheresoever the religion of Christ is diffused. 



Their 
interest in 
humanity. 

St. Augus- 
tine, City of 
God, ix. 7. 



VIII. Angels 

Worthily are those blessed immortals placed in those 
celestial habitations, rejoicing in the participation of their 
Creator, being firm, certain, and holy by His eternity, 
truth, and bounty; because they love us mortal wretches 
with a zealous pity and desire to have us immortally blessed 
also, and will not have us sacrifice to them, but to Him 
to whom they know both us and themselves to be sacrifices. 
For we both are inhabitants of that in the Psalm: " Glorious 
things are spoken of thee, thou City of God:" part whereof 
is pilgrim yet with us and part assists us with them. From 
that eternal city where God's unchanging will is all their 



. Angels; Miracles 567 

law: and from that supernal court (for there we are cared 
for) by the ministry of the holy angels was that Holy 
Scripture brought down unto us, which says, "He that 
sacrifices to any but God alone, shall be rooted out." 
This scripture, this precept is confirmed unto us by so 
many miracles, that it is plain enough, to whom the blessed 
immortals, so loving us, and wishing as themselves, would 
have us to offer sacrifice. 



IX. Miracles 

But all miracles (done by angels or whatever divine Not to be 
power), confirming the true adoration of one God unto us 
(in whom only we are blessed), we believe truly are done ^ cuyof 
by God's power working in these immortals that love us God > **• I2 - 
in true piety. Hear not those that deny that the invisible 
God works visible miracles: is not the world a miracle? 
Yet visible, and of His making. Nay, all the miracles 
done in this world are less than the world itself, the heaven 
and the earth and all therein, yet God made them all, 
and after a manner that man cannot conceive nor com- 
prehend. For though these visible miracles of nature 
be now no more admired, yet ponder them wisely, and 
they are more admirable than the strangest: for man is a 
greater miracle than all that he can work. Wherefore 
God that made heaven and earth (both miracles) scorns 
not as yet to work miracles in heaven and earth, to draw 
men's souls that yet affect visibilities, unto the worship 
of His invisible essence. But where and when He will 
do this, His unchangeable will can only declare; at whose 
disposing all time past has been, and future time is. He 
moves all things in time, but time moves not Him, nor 
knows the future effects otherwise than present. Nor 



568 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 

hears he our prayers otherwise than He forsees them ere 
we pray; for when His angels hear them, He hears in them. 



Criminal 
charge 
before the 
governor of 
Egypt. 

The trial 
about 400 
A.D. 

A papyrus. 

Interesting 
for the re- 
ligious belief 
of the age. 



X. A Case of Grave Robbery 

You have dug up the body of the dead which the city, 
pursuant to a decree of the people, has buried and mourned. 
You seem to me to have the heart of a beast, not of a 
man — and really not even of a beast. For beasts assail 
indeed living men but spare the dead. You however have 
plotted against a corpse which has separated itself from 
the race of men. Whence got you the effrontery to rob 
of his last hopes the person laid to rest? Truly, by Zeus, 
these were the last adornments allowed by the laws: they 
were the gifts of the state to the dead body; they were 
offerings of purification (which you have stolen). You 
will atone for this deed with your head. 



Heresies 
forbidden. 

Theodosian 
Code xvi. 5, 5. 



379 A.D. 



XI. Edict of Theodosius Against Heretics 

Let all heresies forbidden both by divine and imperial 
laws forthwith cease. Whatsoever profane person lowers, 
by acts worthy of punishment, the opinion of God, let 
him entertain ideas destined to be hurtful to himself alone, 
let him not publish what will be a hindrance to others. 
Whoever causes wasting disease to bodies, redeemed by 
venerable baptism, . . . let him not ruin others by wicked 
instruction. And all teachers and ministers of that per- 
verse superstition, — whether by assuming sacred office 
they defile the name of bishop or falsify religion with the 
title of presbyter, or call themselves deacons when they 
are not even held to be Christians, — let them abstain 
from meetings devoted to an opinion long ago condemned. 
Finally let the Rescript recently published at Sirmium 



sions, 1. 9, 14. 



Heresies; Education 569 

be cancelled and let those things only abide with Universal Rescript was 

(Catholic) observance, which our ever memorable father the emperor 

and we ourselves have ordered as destined to live forever f r ^J^J a 

with equally specific command. { or F\ °{ 

legislation. 

XII. Miseries of the Schoolboy 

O God, my God, what miseries I suffered there, and how The 
I was made a subject of mockery, seeing that the end set [s painful?* 1 
before my boyhood was to obey my teachers that I might St ^ugus- 
prosper in the world, by learning to excel in those wordy {555 Confes- 
arts which lead to honor among men, and serve to gain 
those riches which are not true wealth. To that end I 
was put to school that I might learn my letters, in which 
I, poor wretch, could see no manner of use. But if I was 
slow in learning them I was whipped. For this was the 
way approved by our ancestors. For many, going through 
this life before us, had built up the toilsome ways through 
which we were compelled to pass with the labor and pain 
which have been multiplied upon the sons of Adam. Mean- 
while I came in contact with some who prayed to Thee, 
and I learned something from them, and thought of Thee 
as best I could, as some great One, who though we could 
not see or touch Thee, couldst hear and help us. As a 
boy accordingly I began to pray to Thee, who art my 
refuge and my help. I taught my stammering tongue 
to cry to Thee, and besought Thee, small as I was, with 
no little earnestness that I might not be whipped at school. 
And when Thou didst not answer my prayer — though 
it was not Thy purpose to put me to confusion — my 
whippings were matter for mirth to my seniors, even to 
my parents, who certainly wished no ill to befall me, 
though these punishments were a great and grave ill to 
me. . . . 



576 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 

Learning In my boyhood, for which my mother had less fear than 

compulsion, for my youth, I loved not my lessons, and I loved not to 
lb. i. 12, 19. be made learn them. But I was made learn them, and 
that was good; yet was I not doing good in learning them; 
for I would not have learned them had I not been driven 
to it, and no one is doing good whose will is not in what 
he does, even though the thing he does is good. Nor were 
they who made me learn doing good, but Thou, O God, 
wast doing good to me through them. . . . 

XIII. Converted to Philosophy 

Through I was studying books which taught eloquence, in which 

of Cicero. I desired to excel, seeking by means of the satisfaction of 
St. Augustine, human vanity an end that was itself evil and vain, when 
Confessions, m t k e usua i course f reading I came to a book of one 

Cicero, whose eloquence, though not his character, is 

almost universally admired. This book of his is called 

The Horten- j-j^ Hortensius y and contains an exhortation to the study 

sius has not ' J 

been pre- of philosophy. That book changed my whole attitude, 
changed the prayers which I offered to Thee, and made 
all my desires and aspirations different from what they 
had been. All at once every hope that was set on vanity 
seemed worthless, and I desired with an incredible in- 
tensity of emotion the immortality with which philosophy 
is concerned, and I began to rise up that I might return 
unto thee. For it was not to the polishing of my speech 
that I used it, which was what I was ostensibly buying 
with the funds provided by my mother— for my father 
had died two years before and I was now in my nineteenth 
year. It was not to the polishing of my speech that I 
used it, and what impressed me was not the style but the 
subject-matter. 
How I burned, O my God, how I burned to flee from 



Teaching 571 

things earthly unto Thee, and I knew not Thou wast 
dealing with me. For with Thee is wisdom; and the love 
of wisdom has in Greek the name "philosophy" — to the 
pursuit of which that work inflamed me. . . . 

XIV. The Sorrows of a Schoolmaster 
I decided to depart to Rome and to teach there rather The stu- 

r . dents of 

than in Carthage. And how I was brought to this decision Carthage are 
I will not omit to confess unto Thee, seeing that even in 
such things Thy deep ways with us and Thy most present ^ c^tfls- 
mercy toward us are to be meditated and declared to sions > v - 8 > 
others. My reason for wishing to go to Rome was not 
that I was promised, by my friends who urged this course 
on me, larger gains and greater dignity, though doubtless 
these things also weighed with me in the state of my mind 
at the time. The chief and almost the sole cause was that 
I had heard that the students there were less turbulent, 
and were restrained by a stricter discipline, and were not 
permitted to break in rudely, at their pleasure, into the 
class room of a teacher whose lectures they were not at- 
tending; and indeed were not admitted at all unless he 
chose. In Carthage, on the other hand, the students en- 
joy an excessive and disgraceful licence. They break in 
rudely and disturb almost violently the order which a 
teacher has established for the advantage of his pupils. 
And they inflict much injury upon others with an amazing 
recklessness, which deserves to be punished by law, were 
it not sanctioned by custom. They are indeed the more 
miserable in that they do by a kind of licence that which 
Thy laws will never legitimate, and they think they are 
doing it with impunity, when the very blindness with 
which they do it is itself punishment. So I was obliged 
as a teacher to suffer from others the kind of conduct I 



572 Roman Life Under the Late Empire 



Those of 
Rome are 
dishonest 
rogues. 

lb. v. 12, 22. 



had avoided as a student, and therefore it was that I 
wished to go where those who knew told me that such 
things were not done. . . . 

I had however eagerly begun to do that for which I 
had come hither, namely to teach in Rome the rhetorical 
art, and as a beginning I gathered in my own house a few 
pupils to whom and through whom I was beginning to 
get known. When lo, I found that things were done in 
Rome which I had not suffered in Africa! It is true, the 
violent disturbances there caused by the wild set were 
not here customary; but "all at once," I was told, "in 
order to avoid paying their fees, a number of youths agree 
to transfer themselves to another teacher, traitors to their 
pledge, holding money dear and justice cheap." These 
I hated in truth from my heart, but not with a "perfect 
hatred" for I hated more the loss I was to suffer from 
them than the fact of their doing these iniquities to any 
one at all. . . . 

STUDIES 

i. What was the condition of Rome described in this selection? 
Tell the story of Principia and Marcella. 

2. How did the invading barbarians treat the country and the 
people? What parts of the empire suffered most? 

3. How did this young monk get his education? What course of 
life does St. Jerome recommend to him? What should be his studies? 
In what manual labor should he engage? 

4. What labors does the rule of St. Benedict prescribe? What 
attention should be given to study? 

5. What training should a girl receive who was to enter a convent? 
What should she study? 

6. What was St. Jerome's opinion of second marriages? What 
strange case does he comment on? 

7. In St. Augustine's opinion did the gods of Rome help or hinder 
morality? 

8. What part did he think the angels take in human affairs? 



Review 573 



9. What view of miracles does he hold? 

10. What idea of death is contained in this document? What is 
the tone of this address to the accused. 

11. Give the terms of the imperial edict against heresies. 

12. What did St. Augustine study in school? What was his feel- 
ing toward his work? What religious experience had he as a child? 
Why, in his opinion, was he accomplishing no good in his studies? 

13. What was the object of his later study? How was he converted 
to philosophy? What opinion of Cicero does he express? How old 
was he at this time, and on whom did he depend for his education? 

14. From this selection write all you can concerning the schools, 
pupils, and teachers of this period. 



CHAPTER XLVI 

THE MOHAMMEDANS AND THE FRANKISH 
POWER 



God. 

The Koran. 

Man. 

lb. 

Ancient 
World, 552 f. 



Fight for 
the true 
faith! 



lb. 



All who were 
not of the 
Mohamme- 
dan faith 
were termed 
infidels ("the 
unfaithful"). 



I. Mohammedan Religion 

Say, God is one God; the eternal God; he begetteth 
not, neither is he begotten: and there is not any one like 
unto him. 

By the fig and the olive; and by Mount Sinai, and this 
territory of security; verily we created man of a most ex- 
cellent fabric; afterward we rendered him the vilest of 
the vile: except those who believe, and work righteous- 
ness; for they shall receive an endless reward. What, 
therefore, shall cause thee to deny the day of judgment 
after this? Is not God the most wise judge? 

And fight for the religion of God against those who 
fight against you; but transgress not by attacking them 
first, for God loveth not transgressors. And kill them 
wherever ye find them, and turn them out of that whereof 
they have dispossessed you; for temptation to idolatry is 
more grievous than slaughter; yet fight not against them 
in the holy temple, until they attack you therein; but if 
they attack you, slay them there. This shall be the re- 
ward of infidels. But if they desist, God is gracious and 
merciful. Fight therefore against them, until there be 
no temptation to idolatry, and the religion be God's; but 
if they desist, then let there be no hostility, except against 
the ungodly. 

These shall be near unto God in the gardens of delight, — 
574 



Future Life 575 

a crowd of the former generations and a few of the latter The reward 

. , , ,. . of the 

generations, upon inwrought couches, reclining thereon, faithful. 

face to face. Youths ever-young shall go unto them /&. 
round about with goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing 
wine. Their heads shall ache not with it, neither shall 
they be drunken; and with the fruits of the sorts they shall 
choose, and the flesh of the birds of the kinds they shall de- 
sire. And damsels with eyes of pearls laid up we will give 
them as reward for that which they have done. Therein 
shall they hear no vain discourse or accusation of sin, but 
only the saying, "Peace! Peace!" and the people of the 
right hand — what shall be the people of the right hand? 
They shall dwell among lote-trees without thorns, and 
bananas loaded with fruit, and a shade ever-spread, and 
water ever-flowing, and fruits abundant unstayed and 
unforbidden, and couches raised. . . . 

They (the wicked) shall dwell amidst burning wind and Punishment 
scalding water, and a shade of blackest smoke, not cool wicked, 
and not grateful. For before this they were blest with /&. 
wordly goods, and they persisted in heinous sin, and said, 
"When we shall have died and become dust and bones, 
shall we indeed be raised to life, and our fathers the former 
generations?" Say, verily the former and the latter 
generations shall be gathered together for the appointed 
time of a known day. Then ye, O ye erring, lying people, 
shall surely eat of the tree of bitter fruit, and fill therewith 
your stomachs, and drink thereon boiling water, and ye 
shall drink as thirsty camels drink. This shall be their 
entertainment on the day of retribution. 

II. The Do-Nothing Kings 

Although the line of the Merwings actually ended with 
Hilderic, it had nevertheless for some time previously 



57^ 



The Frankish Power 



Decline of 
the Mero- 
vingians 

(Merwings). 

Eginhard, 
Life of Karl 
the Great, i f . 

Ancient 
World, ssi f. 



Charles 
Martel 

(Karl, father 
of Pippin). 

Ancient 
World, 552. 



been so utterly wanting in power that it had been able 
to show no mark of royalty except the empty kingly title. 
All the resources and power of the Kingdom had passed 
into the hands of the prefects of the palace, who were 
called the " Mayors of the Palace," and by them the 
supreme government was administered. Nothing was 
left to the King. He had to content himself with his royal 
title, long hair, and hanging beard. Seated in a chair of 
state, he used to display an appearance of power by receiv- 
ing ambassadors on their arrival, and by giving them 
on their departure, as if on his own authority, those 
answers which he had been taught or commanded to 
give. . . . 

Whenever he went anywhere he used to travel in a wagon 
drawn by a yoke of oxen, with a rustic oxherd for chari- 
teer. In this manner he proceeded to the palace, and to 
he public assemblies of the people held every year for the 
espatch of the business of the kingdom, and he returned 
home again in the same sort of state. The administration 
of the kingdom, and every matter which had to be under- 
taken and carried through, at home and abroad, was 
managed by the Mayor of the Palace. 

At the time of the deposition of Hilderic the office of 
Mayor was filled by Pippin, the father of King Karl. The 
office seemed now to be almost hereditary; for Pippin's 
father, Karl, had also held it, and with great renown, since 
he had quelled throughout all Frank-land those usurpers 
who had tried to assume independent authority. He had 
also utterly defeated the Saracens, who were at that time 
attempting to establish themselves in Gaul, in two great 
battles, the first in Aquitaine, near the city of Poitiers, 
and the second near Narbonne on the river Birra, and 
had compelled them to retire into Spain. . . . 



Charles the Great 577 



III. Charlemagne: War and Diplomacy 

Great and powerful as was the realm of the Franks, Conquests, 

which Karl had received from his father Pippin, he never- Eginhard, 

theless so splendidly enlarged it by these wars that he creates. 
almost doubled it. 

For previously the Eastern Franks had only inhabited The Karl 

that part of Gaul which lies between the Rhine and the here^referred 

Loire, the ocean and Balearic Sea, and that part of Ger- t0 1S Charle - 

7 ' r magne. 

many situated between Saxony and the Danube, the Rhine . 
and the Saal, which latter river divides the Thuringi from World, 554-9. 
the Sorabi. The Alemanni and Bavarians also belonged 
to the Frankish confederation. But Karl, by the wars 
which have been mentioned, conquered and made tribu- 
tary first, Aquitania and Gascony, and the whole range 
of the Pyrenees mountains, as far as the river Ebro, which, 
rising in Navarre and flowing through the most fertile 
lands of Spain, mingles its waters with the Balearic Sea 
beneath the walls of Tortosa; then the whole of Italy, 
from Aosta to lower Calabria, where are the boundaries 
of the Greeks and Beneventines, an extent of more than 
a thousand miles in length, then Saxony, which is indeed 
no small portion of Germany, and is thought to be twice 
as wide as the part where the Franks dwell, and equal 
to it in length; then both Pannonias, and Dacia which 
lies on the other bank of the Danube; also Istria, Liburnia, 
and Dalmatia, with the exception of the maritime towns, 
which for friendship's sake and on account of a treaty he 
allowed the Emperor at Constantinople to hold; lastly, all 
the wild and barbarous nations which inhabit Germany 
between the Rhine and the Vistula, the ocean and the 
Danube, who speak a very similar language, but are 
widely different in manners and dress. Chief among these 



57* 



The Frankish Power 



Alliances. 

Eginhard, 
Karl the 
Great, 16. 



Relations 
with Persia. 



The eastern 
emperor. 



were the Welatabi, Sorabi, Abodriti, and Bsemanni, for 
with these there was fighting; but the rest, who were more 
numerous, quietly surrendered. 

The renown of his Kingdom was also much increased 
by the friendly alliances he cultivated with different kings 
and nations. Alfonso, king of Gallicia and Asturias, was 
so bound to him by the ties of friendship that, when he 
sent him letters or messengers, he used to command that 
he should be spoken of as being Karl's man. The Kings 
of the Scots, too, were by his munificence so devoted to 
his will, that they ever spoke of him as their Lord, and of 
themselves as his lieges and servants. Letters are still 
extant from them to him which show that this sort of 
relationship existed between them. 

Haroun, King of the Persians, who, with the exception 
of India, ruled over nearly all the East, was held by the 
King in such hearty friendship that he valued Karl's 
esteem above all other Kings and princes of the world, and 
thought that he alone was worthy to be honored by his 
regard and munificence. When the officers sent by King 
Karl with offerings to the most sacred sepulchre and place 
of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour came to Haroun 
and announced the pleasure of their master, he not only 
gave them permission to do as they desired, but granted 
that that revered and sacred spot should be considered 
as belonging to King Karl. When the ambassadors set 
out on their return, he sent with them his own envoys, who 
conveyed to the King strange and curious gifts, with 
garments and spices and other rich products of the East, 
just as he had sent him a few years before, upon his 
request, the only elephant he then possessed. 

The Emperors at Constantinople, Nicephorus, Michael, 
and Leo, of their own accord, also sought his friendship 



His Activity; Personal Appearance 579 

and alliance, and sent to him several embassies; and since 
by assuming the Imperial title he had laid himself open 
to the grave suspicion of wishing to deprive them of Em- 
pire, he made with them the most binding treaty possible, 
that there might be no occasion of offence between them. 
But the Romans and Greeks always viewed with distrust 
the power of the Franks; hence arose the Greek proverb 
"Have a Frank for a friend but not for a neighbor." 

Illustrious as the King was in the work of enlarging Buildings, 
his kingdom and in conquering foreign nations, and though Eginhard, 
so constantly occupied with such affairs, he nevertheless Great! 17. 
began in several places very many works for the advantage 
and beautifying of his Kingdom. Some of these he was 
able to finish. Chief among them may be mentioned, as 
deserving of notice, the Basilica of the Holy Mother of 
God, built at Aachen, a marvel of workmanship; and the 
bridge over the Rhine at Mainz, five hundred paces in 
length, so broad is the river at that place. . . . 

IV. Personal Appearance and Habits 

The person of Karl was large and robust, and of com- His ap- 
manding stature, though not exceeding good proportions, pearance * 
for it appears that he measured seven feet in height. The xadtJte 
top of his head was round, his eyes large and animated, Great > 22 - 
his nose somewhat long, his hair white, and his face bright 
and pleasant; so that, whether standing or sitting, he 
showed very great presence and dignity. Although his 
neck was thick and rather short . . . still the fair pro- 
portions of his limbs concealed these defects. His walk 
was firm, and the whole carriage of his body was manly. 
His voice was clear, but not so strong as his frame would 
have led one to expect. His health was good until the 
last four years of his life, when he was attacked with 



58o 



The Frankish Power 



frequent fevers, and latterly walked lame on one foot. 
Even in illness he leaned more on his own judgment than 
on the advice of physicians, whom he greatly disliked, 
because they used to recommend him to leave off roasted 
meats, which he preferred, and to accustom himself to 
boiled. 
Exercise. He took constant exercise in riding and hunting, which 

76. was natural for a Frank, since scarcely any nation can 

be found equal to them in these pursuits. He also de- 
lighted in the natural warm baths, frequently exercising 
himself by swimming, in which he was very skilful, no 
one being able to outstrip him. It was on account of the 
warm baths there that he built the palace at Aachen, 
living there constantly during the last years of his life 
and until his death. He not only invited his sons to bathe 
with him, but also his chief men and friends, and occa- 
sionally even a crowd of his attendants and guards, so 
that at times one hundred men or more would be bathing 
together. 
Dress. He wore the dress of his native country — that is the 

lb. 23. Frankish; on his body a linen shirt and linen drawers; 

then a tunic with a silver border and stockings. He 
bound his legs with garters and wore shoes on his feet. 
In the winter he protected his shoulders and chest with a 
vest made of the skins of otters and sable. He wore a 
blue cloak, and was always girt with his sword, the hilt 
and belt being of gold and silver. Sometimes he wore a 
jewelled sword but only on great festivals, or when re- 
ceiving foreign ambassadors. He thoroughly disliked the 
dress of foreigners, however fine, and he never put it on 
except at Rome, — once at the request of Pope Adrian, 
and again a second time, to please his successor, Pope Leo. 
He then wore a long tunic, chlamys, and shoes made after 



His Education 581 

the Roman fashion. On festivals he used to walk in pro- 
cessions clad in a garment woven with gold, and shoes 
studded with jewels, his cloak fastened with a golden 
clasp, and wearing a crown of gold set with precious stones. 
At other times his dress differed little from that of a private 
person. 

V. Education and Religion 

He was ready and fluent in speaking, and able to ex- Ability to 
press himself with great clearness. He did not confine 
himself to his native tongue, but took pains to learn foreign K ®% j£ e ' 
languages, acquiring such knowledge of Latin that he Great > 2 s- 
used to repeat his prayers in that language as well as in 
his own. Greek he could better understand than pro- 
nounce. In speaking he was so voluble that he almost 
gave one the impression of a chatterer. He was an ardent 
admirer of the liberal arts, and greatly revered their pro- 
fessors, whom he promoted to high honors. In order to 
learn grammar, he attended the lectures of the aged Peter 
of Pisa, a deacon; and for other instruction he chose as 
his preceptor Albinus, otherwise called Alcuin, also a 
deacon — a Saxon by race, from Britain, the most learned 
man of his day, with whom the King spent much time in 
learning rhetoric and logic, and more especially astronomy. 
He learned the art of computation, and with deep thought 
and skill very carefully calculated the courses of the 
planets. 

Karl also tried to write, and used to keep his tablets He could 
* . . , , , . .„ ,. , . , , not write, 

and writing books under the pillow of his couch, that 

when he had leisure he might practice his hand in forming 
letters; but he made little progress in a task too long de- 
ferred, and begun too late in life. 
The Christian religion, in which he had been brought 



5«2 



The Frankish Power 



His religion, up trom infancy, was held by Karl as most sacred, and he 
lb. 26. worshipped in it with the greatest piety. For this reason 

he built at Aachen a most beautiful church, which he en- 
riched with gold and silver and candlesticks, and also 
with lattices and doors of solid brass. When columns and 
marbles for the building could not be obtained from else- 
where, he had them brought from Rome and Ravenna. 



Reverence 

for the 
Church of 
St. Peter. 

Eginhard, 
Karl the 
Great, 27. 



Crowned 
Emperor 
by the pope. 

Eginhard, 
Karl the 
Great, 28. 



VI. His Relations with the Pope 

He held the Church of the blessed Peter the Apostle, 
at Rome, in far higher regard than any other place of 
sanctity and veneration, and he enriched its treasury with 
a great quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones. 

To the Pope he made many and rich presents; and 
nothing lay nearer his heart during his whole reign than 
that the city of Rome should attain to its ancient im- 
portance by his zeal and patronage, and that the church of 
St. Peter should, through him, not only be in safe keeping 
and protection, but should also by his wealth be ennobled 
and enriched beyond all other churches. Although he 
thought so much of this, it was only four times, during the 
forty-seven years of his reign, that he had leisure to go to 
Rome for prayer and supplication. 

The last visit he paid to Rome was not only for the 
above reasons, but also because the Romans had driven 
Pope Leo to ask his assistance — for they had grievously 
ill treated him; indeed, his eyes had been plucked out, and 
his tongue cut off. 

Karl therefore went to Rome, and stayed there the whole 
winter in order to reform and quiet the Church, which 
was in a most disturbed state. It was at this time that he 
received the title of Emperor and Augustus, to which at 
first he was so averse that he remarked that had he known 



Crowned Emperor 583 

the intention of the Pope, he would not have entered the 
church on that day, great festival though it was. 

He bore very quietly the displeasure of the Roman Reference 
Emperors, who were exceedingly indignant at his assump- emperors at 
tion of the Imperial title, and overcame their sullenness nopie tantl " 
by his great magnanimity, in which, without doubt, he 
greatly excelled them, sending them frequent embassies, 
and styling them his brothers in his letters to them. 

STUDIES 

1. What is the Koran? What is the Mohammedan idea of God? 
What is the command of the Koran as to unbelievers? What idea 
of heaven does it present? 

2. Describe the "Do-Nothing" kings. 

3. Summarize the conquests of Charlemagne. What were his re- 
lations with other states? What seems to have been the political 
condition of the world at this time? What public works did Charle- 
magne build? 

4. Describe his appearance and habits. 

5. What was the extent of his education? What was his religious 
character? 

6. Give an account of his relations with Rome and the Pope. 
What were the circumstances of his coronation? Why should the 
eastern emperors be indignant at this event? Who was the author 
of this selection, and how did he get his information? 



INDEX 



Achaean, league, 297-301; war, 

392-6 
Achilles, shield of, 81-4 
Acrocorinthus, 290 
Acropolis, 163 
Actium, battle of, 455 f. 
Admetus, 233-5 
/Ediles, 450 
Mneid, 317 
/Eschylus, 69; selections, 169- 

74 
Aixleus, 69; selections, 143 f. 
Alcestis, 233-5 
Alcibiades, 223-7; family and 

person, 223 f.; character and 

education, 224-6; marriage, 

226; peculiarities, 226 f. 
Alcinous, palace of, 85-7 
Alexander, contrasted with 

Philip, 273; empire of, 276-82; 

character of, 280-2; burial of, 

306 
Alexandria, 303-6 
Allia, battle of, 362 f. 
Ammianus Marcellinus, 322; 

selection, 554-7 
Amon, Ammon, hymn to, 12 f. 
Amphictyony, 95 
Anaxagoras, 181 
Angels, 566 f. 
Annalists, Roman, 314 
Antigonus, 299 
Antium, 373 
Antony, M., 455~7 



Apollo, temple at Delphi, 94 f.; 

prayer to, 194 
Apollonidas, speech of, 300 
Apostles of Jesus, 522 
Appian, 321; selections, 379 f., 

417-21, 425-31, 434 i; 438, 

442, 446-8, 455 f. 
Appius Claudius, 376 
Arabia, products of, 22 
Aratus, 299 
Archaeology, 67 
Aristagoras, at Sparta, 153-6; at 

Athens, 156 f. 
Aristides, 1 76 f . 
Aristophanes, 70; selections, 

196-202, 228-33 
Aristotle, 72 f.; selections, 97- 

101, 116 f., 123-139, 176, 178, 

294-6 
Armenia, 251 f. 
Army, Roman, 374 f. 
Arrian, 75, 321; selection, 280 f. 
Artaphernes, 162 
Assembly, Athenian, 196-200; of 

Pel. allies, 228; curiate, 336; 

centuriate, 344 
Assyria, 31-3 
Astronomy, Babylonian, 39; 

Greek, 306 f. 
Athens, under kings, 123 f.; 

timocracy, 124 f.; tyranny, 

130-6; democracy of Cleis- 

thenes, 137-40; Aristagoras at, 

156 f.; affected by fall of 



585 



5 86 



Index 



Miletus, 1 60; in war with 
Persia, 162-74; and Delian 
confederacy, 175-9; under Per- 
icles, 180-210; in Pelop. war, 
211-40; under Spartan su- 
premacy, 247-57; at war -ith 
Philip, 266-9; life in, 283-96 

Attalus, 303 

Augustan Age, 316, 464-74 

Augustine, St., 323; selections, 
566-8, 569-72 

Augustus, 464-75 

Aurelian, 526 

Aurelius, M., 321; selections, 
510-3 

Avesta, 3; selections, 63-5 

Babylon, 33 

Babylonia, 27-41 

Barbarians, northern, 544-57 

Battle, of Marathon, 165-7; 
Salamis, 169-74; Mantinea, 
261-4; Issus, 276 f.; Allia, 
362 f.; Heraclea, 367; Lake 
Trasimene, 383-6; Actium, 
455 f.; Milvian Bridge, 533 f. 

Beka, epitaph of, 20-2 

Benedict, St., rule of, 562 f. 

Bible, selections, 45-54, 521 

Blood feud, 551 f. 

Britain, 490 f. 

Brutus, 447 

Burial society, 516 f. 

Cesar, Julius, 314; selections, 
444 f., 450-4; consulship, 442 f. 
campaigns in Gaul, 443-6; as 
dictator, 446-50; death, 447- 
9; municipal law of, 450-4 



Calendar, farmer's, 404 

Callimachus, 163-7 

Callinus, selection, 141 

Camillus, 364 f. 

Campania, 330 f., 372-4 

Campus Martius, 472 f. 

Canuleian Law, 354 f. 

Capua, 330 

Carians, 77 

Carthage, at war with Greeks, 
241-3; with Rome, 379-88; 
treaty of, with Rome, 361 f.; 
moral condition of, 542 f. 

Cassiterides Islands, 43 

Cassius, Spurius, 349, 447 

Catiline, 437-42 

Cato, 314; manner of life, 411 f.; 
maxims, 412-4; political life, 
414; selections, 405-9 

Catullus,3I5 f.; selection, 461 f. 

Censors, 355 f.; discipline of, 
377 f- 

Census, 342-4, 453 f- 

Cephalus and Socrates, 290-4 

Chalcis, charter of, 194-6 

Chariot race, 189-91 

Charlemagne, 577-83 

Charles Martel, 576 

Cheirisophus, 254 f. 

Cheops, 6 

Choral songs, 229-31 

Christ, 521; monogram of, 533 f. 

Christianity, writers on, 322 f.; 
early, 521-6; persecuted by 
Diocletian, 531-3; under Con- 
stantine, 534-6; in late em- 
pire, 558-73; of Charlemagne, 

581-3 
Cicero, 315; opposes Catiline, 



Index 



S«7 



437-9; selections, 348-50, 439~ 
42 

Cineas, 368 

City-state, 97-102 

Classes, laboring, in Egypt, 22- 
6; social, in Rome, 335; cen- 
sus, 342-4 

Claudius, 368 f., 480-2 

Claudius Marcellus, 473 f. 

Cleisthenes, 137-9 

Cleon, 213-7 

Cleopatra, 455-7 

Clients, 335 f. 

Colonization, Greek, 103-9; Ro- 
man, 337, 372-4 

Comitia Curiata, 350 f. 

Constantine, 533-6 

Constantius, 528-30 

Consuls, 348 f., 397 i- 

Contract, of marriage, 308 f.; of 
apprenticeship, 495 f. 

Corcyra, 218 

Corinth, council at, 271 f.; sack 

of, 395 i- 
Council, at Sparta, 116 f.; of 

Areopagus, 1 28 f . ; Hellenic, 

167 f.; at Corinth, 271 f.; of 

Huns, 555 
Crete, civilization of, 77-80 
Critolaus, 392-4 
Curias, 334 f. 

Darius, empire of, 55-7; achieve- 
ments of, 57-9; invades Hel- 
las, 162-74. 

Datis, 162 

Decius, persecutes Christians, 

5251- 
Decline of Rome, 537-43 



Delos, 212; confederacy of, 175-9 

Deluge, Chaldean account of, 
33-8 

Demes and tribes, 138 f. 

Demetrius, 246 

Demosthenes, the orator, 72; 
selections, 266-9; the general, 
221 f. 

Denarius, 375 f. 

Diaeus, 395 

Dictator, 349 f.; Sulla as, 431; 
Caesar as, 446-54 

Dio Cassius, 321; selections, 
358 f., 446-74 

Dio Chrysostom, 320; selec- 
tion, 540 

Diocletian, 527-32, 537-9 

Diodorus, 73 f., 315; selections, 
44 f-, 78, 88 f., 241-3, 277-80, 
328 f., 376 

Diogenes Laertius, 75; selec- 
tions, 147-9 

Dionysius I, of Syracuse, 

241-3 

Dionysius, the writer, 316; se- 
lections, 332, 334-8, 349-53, 
362 f. 

Domitian, 490 f. 

Draco, 1 24 f . 

Druids, 444-6 

Ebed-Tob, 47 f. 

Economy, Greek, 103-6 

Education, of girls and women 
at Sparta, 112 f.; of youths at 
Sparta, 113 f.; "Good Old 
Education," 231-3; public, 
294; branches of, 295; late 
Roman, 563, 569-72 



vNc 






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osopkefSv 141-51; <fari*ft Ionic 
rtwh. i$£-fet; In *t» with 

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Jf; RO0O1 ' •'.. 1 , 70 I 

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JJ; ,",;,, 68 i , ft I' ' 1-'-'. . -"- J fj 

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59° 



Index 



Mantinea, battle of, 261-4 

Marathon, battle of, 165-7 

Marcella, 558 f. 

Marius, Gaius, 425-8 

Marriage contract, 308 f., 565 

Massalia (Marseilles), 107 f. 

Mausoleum of Augustus, 473 

Maximianus, 528-30 

Mayors of the Palace, 576 

Media, 55-8 

Merovingians, 575 f. 

Miletus, destruction of, 159 f. 

Military rule at Rome, 417-31; 
in conflict with republic, 433- 
56 

Military tribunes, 355 

Miltiades, 163-7 

Milvian Bridge, battle of, 533 f. 

Minos, 77 f. 

Miracles, 567 f. 

Mithra, 64 f. 

Mohammedans, 574-83 

Monarchy, Oriental, 6-12, 27- 
33, 5o-3, 55-95 Greek, 83, 
85-7, 100 f., 117-9, 123 f.; 
Macedonian, 266-82; early 
Roman, 334-47; from prin- 
cipate to, 480-501; Good Em- 
perors, 502-20; absolute, 527- 

36 
Money, 375 f.; making by 

Greeks, 294 
Monk, advice to, 560-2 
Mummius, 394-6 
Municipia, 371 f. 
Murdia, eulogy on, 494 f. 
Museum at Alexandria, 305 
Music, 288-90; instruments of, 

224 f.; decline of, 289^; Ro- 



man taste for, 409-1 1 ; earliest, 

460 
Mycenae, civilization of, 77-80 
Mytilenaeans, 213-7 

Natural History, 318 

Navigation, Phoenician, 43-7; 
Greek, 105 f. 

Nebuchadnezzar, palace of, 32 f. 

Nepos, 74, 315; selection, 258-61 

Nero, his tastes, 482 f.; his ad- 
ministration, 483 f.; persecutes 
Christians, 522 f. 

Nicene creed, 535 f. 

Nicias, 221 f. 

Nile, 5 f.; hymn to, 13-5 

Numa Pompilius, 338-42 

Nun, training of, 564 f. 

Octavius (Augustus), 454-74 

Odeum, 188 f. 

Odysseus, 85, 89-94 

Odyssey, 68; selections, 85-7, 

90-4, 307 
Ogulnian law, 358 
Oracle, 94 f., 159 
Orestes, 189-91 
Osiris, 17 
Ostia, 329 f. 
Ovid, 317; selection, 340 

Paean, 220 

Painting, early Italic, 376 f. 

Palace of Alcinous, 85-7; at 
Persepolis, 278-80; at Alex- 
andria, 305; Nero's, 482 f. 

Pan, shrine of, 163 

Papyri, Greek, 309 f., 495-7, 
517-9, 525 *• 



Index 



59i 



Parilia, 334 

Paterculus, Velleius, 317; 

selection, 475 
Paphlagonians, oath of, 467 f. 
Patricians, 335 
Pausanias, 75 ; selections, 239 f., 

394-6 

Peiraeus, building of, 175; 
Thrasybulus at, 248 f. 

Peisistratus, 130-4 

Peloponnesian league, 111-21, 
297 f.; constitution of, 1 19-21 
war, 211-40 

Pericles, age of, 180-209; family 
and education, 180 f.; states- 
manship, 181-5; public works, 
185-9; on Athenian character, 
206-9 

Periceci, 114-6 

Persepolis, sack of, 277 

Persia, 59; empire, 55-65; cus- 
toms, 59-64; war with Greece, 
162-74; conquered by Alex- 
ander, 276-80; and Charle- 
magne, 578 

Petronius, 318; selection, 491-3 

Pheidias, 188 

Pheidippides (Philippides), 162 f. 

Philip, master of Greece, 266-70; 
organizes supremacy, 270-3; 
achievements, 273-5 

Philosophers, 141-51; Thales, 
147-9; Pythagoras, 149 f.; So- 
crates, 225, 290-4; Plato, 288- 
90; banished from Rome, 409; 
see Aurelius, Epictetus 

Phoenicians, 42-7 

Phyle, 247-51 

Pindar, 69; selection, 146 f. 



Plato, 72; selections, 109, 236-9, 

288-94 
Plebeians, 335; win rights, 350 f., 

3S3-6o 
Plethrum, 305 
Pliny the Elder, 318; selection, 

375 f. 

Pliny the Younger, 320; selec- 
tions, 488-90, 502-5, 523-5 

Plutarch, 74; selections, n 1-3, 
114-6, 175 f., 180-9, 223-8, 
243-6, 276 f., 339 f., 363-9, 
411-5, 4I7I-, 421-3, 426-31, 
433-7, 443-9 

Plutocracy, growth of, 397-415; 
at Rome, 417-31 

Poets, 141-51; Callinus, 141; 
Tyrtaeus, 14 1-3; Alcaeus, 143 f. 
Sappho, 145 f.; Pindar, 146 f.; 
Horace, 317; Ovid, 317; Ver- 
gil, 3i7 

Polemarchus and Socrates, 291 f. 

Polybius, 73, 314; selections, 
297-303, 326 f., 330, 361 f-, 
380-3, 387, 389-94, 397-404, 
410 f. 

Poly crates, 254 

Pompey, 433-7 

Pope Leo, 582 f. 

Po Valley, 326 

Prayer, 193 f., 290; of Augustus, 
468 f.; of matrons, 469 f. 

Precepts, Egyptian, 15-20 

Priene, 302 f. 

Principate, founding of, 464-79; 
to monarchy, 480-500 

Principia, 558 f. 

Propyl aea, 189 

Proscriptions, of Sulla, 429-31 



592 



Index 



Ptolemy, 301 
Publicola, 348 
Punic wars, 379-88 
Pyramids, 6-8 
Pyrrhus, 365-70 
Pythagoras, 149 f. 

Quirites, 469 

Rameses II, 8-12 

Regulus, 379 f. 

Religion, Egyptian, 10-15; Baby- 
lonian and Assyrian, 33-40; 
Hebrew, 48-54; Persian, 59- 
61, 63-5; Greek, 88-96; early 
Roman, 337~42, 349; later, 
401-4; origin of, 457-9; under 
Augustus, 467-71; under Ti- 
berius, 478; Mohammedan, 
574 f.; Christian, see Chris- 
tians. 

Republic, early Roman, 348-78; 
during Punic wars, 379-416; 
transformation to principate, 

417-63 

Rex Sacrorum, 349 

Rhetoricians, banished from 
Rome, 409 

Rhodes, 302 

Rome, 331 f.; under kings, 334- 
7; becomes supreme in Italy, 
361-78; during Punic wars, 
379-416; from republic to 
principate, 417-63; under prin- 
cipate, 464-501; under Good 
Emperors, 502-20; under 
absolute monarchy, 527-36; 
decline of, 537-43; late, 558-72 

Romulus, 334-8 



Salamis, battle of, 169-74 
Sallust, 314; selection, 426 
Salvianus, 324; selections, 539, 

542 f. 
Sappho, 69; selections, 145 f. 
Sardis, taken by Greeks, 157 f.; 

Greek spies at, 168 f. 
Sargon, 27 f. 

Schoolboy, miseries of, 569 f. 
Schoolmaster, sorrows of, 571 f. 
Senate, Roman, 336, 349, 398 f., 

480-2 
Seneca, 318 

Sermon on the Mount, 521 
Sertorius, 434 
Servants, training of, 287 f.; 

funerals, 517; of Germans, 553 
Servile war, 434-6 
Servius Tullius, 342-6 
Sextius, 357 f. 
Shipbuilding, 242 f. 
Sicily, expedition to, 218-40; 

tyrant and liberator of, 241-6 
Sicyon, 299 
Sidon, 42 f. 
Socrates, and Alcibiades, 225 f.; 

defense of, 236; dialogue with 

Ischomachus, 283-8; visits 

Cephalus, 290-4 
Solomon's Temple, 50-3 
Solon, 69; social conditions be- 
fore, 123 f.; elegy of, 125 f.; 

laws of, 1 27-9; journey abroad, 

129 f. 
Sophocles, 70; selections, 189- 

94 
Sources, introduction to, oriental, 
1-4; Greek, 67-76; Roman, 
313-26 






Index 



593 



Sparta, rise of, 1 11-21; Arista- 
goras at, 153-6; supremacy of, 

247-57 
Spartacus, 434-6 
Spartianus, 322; selections, 

505-10 
Stadium, 308 

Stone quarries of Syracuse, 222 f. 
Strabo, 1, 74, 316 f.; selections 

from, 5 f., ^, 42, 43, 55, 94-6, 

107-9, 149, 281, 303-7, 327 f-, 

328-32, 472-4 
Suetonius, 320; selections, 442 f. 

449, 454, 464 f., 478, 480, 

482 f., 484 f. 
Sulla, 428-31 

Syracuse, 220 f.; tyrant of, 241-6 
Syria, 42-54 

Tacitus, 318 f.; selections, 474, 
476-8, 480-4, 490, 522 f., 544- 

55 
Tarentum, 106 f., 365 f. 
Tarquinius, L., 346 
Temple, Erechtheum, 239 f.; of 

Capitoline Jupiter, 345 f.; 

Olympian Jupiter, at Athens, 

508 
"Ten Thousand," retreat of, 

251-5 

Thales, 147-9 

Thebes, attempt to gain su- 
premacy, 258-64; and Philip, 
271 

Themistocles, 175 

Theodosius, 541, 568 f. 

Theramenes, 228 f. 

Thessaly, 267 

"Thirty," 247-51 



Thrasybulus, 247-51 

Thucydides, 71; selections, 
78 f., 120 f., 176, 177, 206-9, 
211-23 

Tiberius, princeps, 475-9 

Tiglath-Pileser I, 31 f. 

Timoleon, 243-6 

Titus Lartius, 349 

Titus, princeps, 488-90 

Tombs, spoliation of, 15, 568; 
decoration of, 340 f. 

Trajan, correspondence with 
Pliny, 502-5, 523-5 

Trasimene, battle of lake, 
383-6 

Treaty, earliest recorded, 8-10; 
between Eleians and Heraeans, 
121; with Ptolemy, 301; be- 
tween Rome and Carthage, 
361 f- 

Tribes, 334 f. 

Tribunes of plebs, 350 f. 

Tyrant, of Athens, 130-7; of 
Syracuse, 241-6 

Tyre, 42 f., 45-7 

Tyrt^eus, 69 

Valens, 321 

Valerian-Horatian laws, 353 
Valerius Flaccus, 411 f. 
Velleius Paterculus, 317 f.; 

selection, 475 
Vergil, 317; selections, 474, 560, 

562-4 
Vespasian, 484 f. 
Vestal Virgins, 340; election of, 

477 
Vesuvius, eruption of, 488-90 
Via Appia, 276 



594 



Index 



Victor, Aurelius, 321 f.; selec- 
tions, 527-31 

War, Oriental, 27 f., 31 f., 56 f.; 
of Ionic revolt, 152-61; be- 
tween Greece and Persia, 162- 
74; Peloponnesian, 211-40; 
between Alexander and Da- 
rius, 276-82; Punic, 379- 



88; Achzean, 392-6; servile, 
434-6 • 
Women, Greek, 283-8; Roman, 
378; German, 546 f. 

Xenophon, 71 f., 251-5; selec- 
tions, 113 f., • 228 f., 247-57, 
261-4, 283-8 

Xerxes, 167-9 



'T*HE following pages contain advertisements of a 
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A History of the Ancient World 

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